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SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 


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with   her   hand. 


SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 


BY 

DANE    COOLIDGE 

Author  of 
'Rimrock  Jones,"  "The  Desert  Trail,"  etc. 


Frontispiece  by 
GEORGE  W.  GAGE 


ra 


New  York 
W.  J.  Watt  &  Company 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1919,  by 
W.  J.  WATT  &  COMPANY 


c  l  «    «  •   •   •  • 

•  •  •  •.. 


♦,  « 


11*    «   •  C  I   t 

■   •   •     .V 


-  jr. 


PRESS  OF 

BRAUNWORTH  a  CO. 

BOOK  MANUFACTURERS 

BROOKLYN,  N.  V. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I.  The  Last  of  Ten  Thousand 

PAGE 
I 

II.  The  Shotgun  Widow    . 

.       IO 

III.  The  Shadow 

.       22 

IV.  The  Ghost  Man     . 

•       30 

V.  A  Load  of  Buckshot    . 

■       38 

VI.  All  Crazy 

.      48 

•       58 

VIII.  The  Tip 

,     68 

IX.  A  Peace  Talk        .... 

.     78 

X.  The  Best  Head  in  Town   . 

.     89 

.     98 

XII.  The  Expert 

,   106 

XIII.  A  Sack  of  Cats     .... 

118 

XIV.  The  Explosion       . 

127 

XV.  The  God  of  Ten  Per  Cent 

•   135 

XVI.  A  Showdown  with  the  Widow. 

143 

XVII.  Peace — and  the  Price. 

151 

XVIII.  On  Christmas  Day       .'«•'. 

160 

XIX.  The  Enigma     ...... 

170 

XX.  An  Appeal  to  Charley 

179 

1  Ciu 


VI 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

XXL 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 

XXVIII. 

XXIX. 

XXX. 

XXXI. 

XXXII. 

XXXIII. 

XXXIV. 


The  Dragon's  Teeth 

Virginia  Explains — Nothing 

On  Demand  . 

Double  Trouble 

Virginia  Repents 

The  Call 

The  Thunder  Clap 

The  Way  Out     . 

Across  Death  Valley 

An  Evening  with  Socrates 

The  Broken  Trust   . 

A  Huff  .       ... 

The  Fiery  Furnace  . 

A  Clean-up  . 


PAGE 
I87 

I96 
204 
214 
223 
231 

239 
248 

259 

269 

279 

290 

299 

305 


SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 


SHADOW   MOUNTAIN 


CHAPTER  I 
The  Last  of  Ten  Thousand 

UNDER  the  rim  of  Shadow  Mountain,  em- 
braced like  a  pearl  of  great  price  by  the  curve 
of  Bonanza  Point  and  the  mined-out  slope 
of  Gold  Hill,  the  deserted  city  of  Keno  lay  brooding 
and  silent  in  the  sun.  A  dry,  gusty  wind,  swooping 
down  through  the  northern  pass,  slammed  the  great 
iron  fire-doors  that  hung  creaking  from  the  stone 
bank  building,  caught  up  a  cloud  of  sand  and  dirt 
and,  whirling  it  down  past  empty  stores  and  assay 
offices,  deposited  it  in  the  doorways  of  gambling 
houses  and  dance  halls,  long  since  abandoned  to  the 
rats.  An  old  man,  pottering  about  among  the  ruins, 
gathered  up  some  broken  boards  and  hobbled  off; 
and  once  more  Keno,  the  greatest  gold  camp  the 
West  has  ever  seen,  sank  back  to  silence  and  dreams. 
A  round  of  shots  wakened  the  echoes  of  Shadow 
Mountain;  a  lonely  miner  came  down  the  trail  from 
Gold  Hill,  where  in  the  pl'cl  days  the  P^y^aster  had 


■  , '  j 


2  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

turned  out  its  million  a  month;  and  then,  far  out 
across  the  floor  of  the  desert  on  the  road  that  led 
in  from  the  railroad,  there  appeared  an  arrow- 
point  of  dust.  It  grew  to  a  racing  streak  of  white, 
the  distant  purring  of  the  motor  gave  way  to  a 
deep-voiced  thunder  and  as  the  powerful  car  glided 
swiftly  up  the  street  the  doors  of  old  houses  opened 
unexpectedly  and  the  last  of  ten  thousand  looked 
out. 

There  were  old  men  and  cripples>  left  stranded 
by  the  exodus;  and  prospectors  who  had  moved 
into  the  vacant  houses  along  with  the  other  desert 
rats;  but  out  on  the  gallery  of  the  old  Huff  man- 
sion— where  the  creepers  still  clung  to  the  lattice — 
there  was  a  flutter  of  white  and  a  girl  came  out 
with  a  kitten  in  her  arms.  In  the  days  of  gold — 
when  ten  thousand  men,  the  choice  spirits  of  two 
hemispheres,  had  tramped  down  this  same  deserted 
street — the  house  of  Colonel  Huff,  the  discoverer 
of  the  Paymaster,  had  been  the  social  center  of 
Keno.  And  so  it  was  still,  for  the  Widow  Huff 
remained;  but  across  the  front  of  the  hospitable 
gallery  where  the  Colonel  had  entertained  the 
town,  a  cheap  cloth  sign  announced  meals  fifty 
cents  and  Virginia,  his  daughter,  was  the  waiter. 
She  stood  by  the  sign,  still  high-headed  and  patrician, 
and  when  the  driver  of  the  car  saw  her  he  came  to 
a  sudden  stop.  He  was  long  and  gaunt,  with  deep 
lines  around  his  mouth  from  bucking  the  wind  and 
dust  and  after  a  moment's  hesitation  he  threw  on 
his  brake  and  leapt  olir. 


<      it       i    .t  i 


THE  LAST  OF  TEN  THOUSAND         3 

"Did  you  want  something ?'  she  asked  and, 
glancing  warily  about,  he  nodded  and  came  up 
the  steps. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  still  eying  her  doubtfully,  "what's 
the  chance  for  something  to  eat?" 

"Why,  good,"  she  answered  with  a  suspicion  of 
a  smile.     "Or — well,  come  in;  I'll  speak  to  mother." 

She  showed  him  into  the  spacious  dining  room, 
where  the  Colonel  had  once  presided  in  state,  and 
hurried  into  the  kitchen.  The  young  man  gazed 
after  her,  looked  swiftly  about  the  room  and  backed 
away  towards  the  door;  then  his  strong  jaw  closed 
down,  he  smiled  grimly  to  himself  and  sat  down 
unbidden  at  a  table.  The  table  was  mahogany  and, 
in  a  case  against  the  wall,  there  was  a  scant  display 
of  cut  glass;  but  the  linen  was  worn  thin  and  the 
expensive  velvet  carpet  had  been  ruined  by  hob- 
nailed boots.  Heavy  workingmen's  dishes  lay  on 
the  tables,  the  plating  was  worn  from  the  knives, 
and  the  last  echoing  ghost  of  vanished  gentility  was 
dispelled  by  a  voice  from  the  kitchen.  It  was  the 
Widow  Huff,  once  the  first  lady  of  Keno,  but  now 
a  boarding-house  cook. 

"What — a  dinner  now?  At  half-past  three?  And 
with  this  wind  fairly  driving  me  crazy?  Well,  I 
can't  hire  anybody  to  keep  such  hours  for  me  and " 

There  was  a  murmur  of  low-voiced  protest  as 
Virginia  pleaded  his  cause  and  then,  as  the  Widow 
burst  out  anew,  the  young  man  pushed  back  his 
chair.  His  blue  eyes,  half  hidden  beneath  bulging 
brows,  turned  a  steely,  fighting  gray,  his  wind-blown 


4  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

hair  fairly  bristled;  and  as  he  listened  to  the  last 
of  the  Widow's  remarks  his  lower  lip  was  thrust 
up  scornfully. 

"You  danged  old  heifer,"  he  muttered  and  then 
the  kitchen  door  flew  open.  The  baleful  look  which 
he  had  intended  for  the  Widow  was  surprised  on  his 
face  by  Virginia  and  after  a  startled  moment  she 
closed  the  door  behind  her. 

"Why — Wiley  Holman!"  she  cried  accusingly  and 
a  challenge  leapt  into  his  eyes. 

"Well?'  he  demanded  and  gazed  at  her  sullenly 
as  she  scanned  him  from  head  to  foot. 

"I  knew  it,"  she  burst  out.  "I'd  know  that 
stubborn  look  anywhere!  You  double  up  your  lip 
like  your  father.  Honest  John!'  she  added  sar- 
castically and  brushed  some  crumbs  from  the 
table. 

"Yes — Honest  John!"  he  retorted.  "And  you 
don't  need  to  say  it  like  that,  either.  He's  my 
father — I  know  him — and  I'll  tell  you  right  now 
he  never  cheated  a  man  in  his  life." 

'"Well,  he  did!'  she  flared  back,  her  eyes  dark 
with  anger,  "and  I'll  bet — I'll  bet  if  my  father  was 
here  he'd — he'd  prove  it  to  your  face!" 

She  ended  in  a  sob  and  as  he  saw  the  tears  start- 
ing the  son  of  Honest  John  relented. 

"Aw,  Virginia,"  he  pleaded,  "what's  the  use  of 
always  fighting?  He's  gone  now,  so  let's  be  friends. 
I  was  just  going  by  when  I  saw  you  on  the  gal- 
lery, and  I  thought — well,  let's  you  and  I  be  friends.'3 

"What?     After   old    Honest   John    robbed    Papa 


THE  LAST  OF  TEN  THOUSAND         5 

of  the  Paymaster,  and  then  hounded  him  to  his 
death  on  the  desert?" 

"He  did  nothing  of  the  kind — he  never  robbed 
anybody!  And  as  for  hounding  your  father  to 
his  death,  the  Old  Man  never  even  knew  about  it. 
He  was  down  on  the  ranch,  and  when  they  told 
him  the  news " 

"Yes,  that's  you,"  she  railed,  stifling  back  her 
sobs,  "you  can  always  prove  an  alibi.  But  you'd 
better  drift,  Mr.  Holman;  because  if  mother  knows 
you're  here " 

"Well,  what?"  he  demanded,  truculently. 

"She'll  fill  you  full  of  buckshot." 

"Pah!"  he  scoffed  and  snapped  his  fingers  in  the 
air,  after  which  he  lapsed  into  silence. 

"Well,  she  will,"  she  asserted,  after  waiting  for 
him  to  speak,  but  Wiley  only  grunted. 

"Wait  till  I  get  that  dinner,"  he  said  at  last 
and  slumped  down  into  a  chair.  He  muttered  to 
himself,  gazing  dubiously  towards  the  kitchen,  and 
turned  impatiently  to  look  at  some  specimens  in  a 
case  against  the  wall.  They  were  the  usual  chunks 
of  high-grade  gold  ore,  but  he  examined  one  piece 
with  great  care. 

"Where'd  you  get  "this? ""He  asked,  holding  up 
a  piece  of  white  rock,*  ancLsne,  sighed  and  brushed 
away  her  tears. 

"Over  on  the  dump,"  she  answered  wearily. 
"That's  all  Paymaster  ore.  Don't  you  think  you'd 
better  go?" 

"Never  ran  away  yet,"  he  answered  briefly  and 


SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 


» 


balanced  the  rock  in  his  hand.     "Pretty  heavy, 
he  observed,  "I'll  bet  it  would  assay.     Have  you 
got  very  much  on  the  dump?" 

"What — that}1  she  cried,  snatching  the  speci- 
men away  from  him  and  bursting  into  a  nervous 
laugh.  "That  assay?  Well,  you  are  a  greenie — 
it's  nothing  but  barren  white  quartz!" 

"Oh,  it  is,  eh?'  he  rejoined  and  gazed  at  her 
hectoringly.  "You  seem  to  know  a  whole  lot  about 
mineral." 

"Yes,  I  do,"  she  boasted.  "Death  Valley  Charley 
teaches  me.  I've  learned  how  to  pan,  and  every- 
thing. But  that  rock  there — that's  the  barren 
quartz  that  the  Paymaster  ran  into  when  the  values 
went  out  of  the  ore.     Old  Charley  knows  all  about 


it." 


"Yes,  they  all  do,"  he  observed  and  as  his  lip 
went  up  her  eyes  dilated  suddenly  in  a  panic. 

"Oh,  you  went  to  that  school — I  forgot  all  about 
it — where  they  study  about  the  mines!  Are  you 
in  the  mining  business  now?" 

'Why,  yes,"  he  acknowledged,  "but  that  doesn't 
make  much  difference.  I  find  I  can  learn  some- 
thing from  most  everybody." 

"Well,  of  course,  then,"  she  stammered,  "I 
shouldn't  have  said  that;  but  the  whole  Paymaster 
dump  is  covered  with  that  heavy  quartz,  and  every- 
body   knows    it's    barren.     Are    you    just    looking 


around  or ' 


She   hesitated    politely    and    as    he    reached    for 
another  specimen  she  noticed  a  ring  on  his  finger. 


THE  LAST  OF  TEN  THOUSAND         7 

It  was  of  massive  gold  and,  set  in  clutching  claws, 
there  were  three  stupendous  diamonds.  Not  imita- 
tion stones  nor  small,  off-colored  diamonds,  but 
brilliants  of  the  very  first  water,  clear  as  dew, 
yet  holding  in  their  hearts  the  faintest  suggestion 
of  blue. 

"Oh!"  she  gasped,  and  as  he  did  not  seem  to 
notice,  she  drew  her  skirts  away  with  a  flourish. 
"I'm  surprised,"  she  mocked,  "that  you  condescend 
to  speak  to  us — of  course  you  own  your  own 
mines!" 

"Nope,"  he  replied,  shrugging  his  shoulders  at 
her  sarcasm,  "Fm  nothing  but  a  prospector,  yet. 
And  you  don't  need  to  be  so  surprised." 

"No!'  she  retorted,  giving  way  to  swift  resent- 
ment. "I  guess  I  don't — when  you  consider  how 
you  got  your  money.  Here's  Mother  out  cooking 
for  you,  and  I'm  the  waiter;  and  you're  traveling 
around  in  racing  cars  with  thousand-dollar  rings 
on  your  hands.  But  if  old  Honest  John  hadn't 
sold  all  his  stock  while  he  was  advising  my  father 
to  hold  on -" 

"He  did  not!" 

"Yes,  he  did!  He  did,  too!  And  now,  after 
Father  has  been  lost  in  Death  Valley,  and  we  have 
come  down  to  this,  your  father  writes  over  and 
offers  to  buy  our  stock  for  just  the  same  as  nothing. 
That's  my  ring  you're  wearing,  and  the  money 
that  paid  for  it " 

"Oh,  all  right  then,"  he  sneered,  stripping  off 
the  ring  and  handing  it  abruptly  over  to  her,  "if 


8  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 


it's  your  ring,   take   it!     But   don't  you   say   my 

father " 

"Well,  he  did,"  she  declared,  "and  you  can  keep 


your  old  ring!  It  won't  bring  back  my  father — 
now!" 

"No,  it  won't,"  he  agreed,  "but  while  we're 
about  it  I  just  want  to  tell  you  something.  My 
father  went  broke,  buying  back  Paymaster  stock 
from  friends  he'd  advised  to  go  in — and  he's  got 
the  stock  to  prove  it — and  when  he  heard  that 
the  Colonel  was  dead  he  decided  to  buy  in  your 
mother's.     He  mortgaged    his    cows  to    raise  the 

money  for  her  and  then  that  old  terror I  don't 

care  if  she  is  your  mother — she  slapped  him  in  the 
face  by  refusing  it.  Well,  he  didn't  like  to  say 
anything,  but  you  can  tell  her  from  me  she  don't 
have  to  cook  unless  she  wants  to!  She  can  sell 
— or  buy — a  hundred  thousand  shares  of  Pay- 
master any  day  she  says  the  word;  and  if  that  isn't 
honest  I  don't  know  what  is!  I  ask  you,  now;  isn't 
that  fair?" 

"What,  at  ten  cents  a  share?  When  it  used 
to  sell  for  forty  dollars!  He's  just  trying  to  get 
control  of  the  mine.  And  as  for  offering  to  buy  or 
sell,  that's  perfectly  ludicrous,  because  he  knows 
we  haven't  any  money!" 

"Well,  what  do  you  want?"  he  demanded  irri- 
tably, and  then  he  thrust  up  his  lip.  "I  know," 
he  said,  "you  want  your  own  way!  All  right,  I'll 
never  trouble  you  again.  You  can  keep  right  on 
guarding  that  hole-in-the-ground  until  you  dry  up 


THE  LAST  OF  TEN  THOUSAND         9 

and  blow  away  across  the  desert.     And  as  for  that 

old  she-devil " 

He  paused  at  a  sudden  slam  from  the  kitchen, 
and  Virginia's  eyes  grew  big;  but  as  he  rose  to 
face  the  Widow  Huff  he  slipped  the  white  rock 
into  his  pocket. 


CHAPTER  II 
The  Shotgun  Widow 

THE  Widow  Huff  was  burdened  with  a  tra; 
and  her  eye  sought  wildly  for  Virginia  but 
when  she  glimpsed  Wiley  moving  swiftly 
towards  the  door  she  set  down  his  dinner  with 
a  bang.  The  disrespectful  epithet  which  he  had 
applied  to  her  had  been  lost  in  the  clatter  of  plates, 
but  the  moment  the  Widow  came  into  the  room  she 
sensed  the  hair-trigger  atmosphere. 

"Here!"  she  ordered,  taking  command  on  the 
instant.  "Come  back  here,  young  man,  and  pay  me 
for  this  dinner!  And  Virginia  Huff,  you  go  out 
into  the  kitchen — how  many  times  do  I  have  to 
speak  to  you?" 

Virginia  started  and  stopped,  her  resentful  eyes 
on  Wiley,  a  thin  smile  parting  her  lips. 

'He  said "  she  began,  and  then  Wiley  strode 

back  and  slapped  down  a  dollai  on  the  table. 

"Yes,  and  I  meant  it,  too/'  he  answered  fiercely. 

"There'    your  pay — and  you  can  keep  your  mine." 

"Why,  certainly,"  responded  the  Widow  without 

knowing  what  she   was  talking  about,   "and  now 

you  eat  that  dinner.!" 

to 


THE  SHOTGUN  WIDOW  n 

She  pointed  a  finger  to  the  tray  of  food  and 
looked  Wiley  Holman  in  the  eye.  He  wavered, 
gazing  from  her  to  the  smiling  Virginia,  and  then 
he  drew  up  his  chair. 

"I'll  go  you,"  he  said  and  showed  his  teeth  in  a 
grin.     "You  can't  hurt  my  feelings  that  way." 

He  lifted  the  T-bone  steak  from  the  platter  and 
transferred  it  swiftly  to  his  plate  and  then,  as  he 
fell  to  eating  ravenously,  the  Widow  condescended 
to  smile. 

"When  I  go  to  the  trouble  of  cooking  a  man  a 
steak,"  she  announced  with  the  suggestion  of  a 
swagger,  "I  expect  him  to  stay  and  eat  it." 

"All  right,"mumbled  Wiley,  and  glancing  fleeringly 
at  Virginia,  he  went  ahead  with  his  meal. 

The  Widow  looked  over  her  shoulder  at  her 
daughter  and  then  back  at  the  stranger,  but  as  she 
was  about  to  inquire  into  the  cause  of  their  quarrel 
she  spied  his  diamond  ring.  She  approached  him 
closer  under  pretext  of  pouring  out  some  water 
and  then  she  sank  down  into  a  chair. 

"That  is  a  very  fine  ring,"  she  stated  briefly. 
"Worth  fifteen  hundred  dollars  at  the  least.  Haven't 
I  seen  you  somewhere,  before?" 

"Very  likely,"  returned  Wiley,  not  venturing  to 
look  up,  "my  business  takes  me  everywhere." 

"I  thought  I  recognized  you,"  went  on  the  Widow 
ingratiatingly;  "you're  a  mining  man,  aren't  you, 
Mister — er " 

"Wiley,"  he  answered,  and  at  this  bold  piece  of 
effrontery  Virginia  caught  her  breath. 


12  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"Ah,  yes,  I  remember  you  now,"  said  the  Widow. 
"You  knew  my  husband,  of  course — Colonel  Huff? 
He  passed  away  on  the  twentieth  of  July;  but  there 
was  a  time,  not  so  many  years  ago,  that  I  wore  a 
few  diamonds  myself/'  She  fixed  her  restless  eyes 
on  his  ring  and  heaved  a  discontented  sigh.  "Vir- 
ginia," she  directed,  "run  out  into  the  kitchen  and 
clean  up  that  skillet  and  all.  I  declare,  you  do  less 
and  less  every  day — are  you  a  married  man,  Mr. 
Wiley?" 

Without  awaiting  the  answer  to  this  portentous 
question,  Virginia  flung  out  into  the  kitchen  and, 
left  alone,  the  Widow  drew  nearer  and  her  manner 
became  suddenly  confidential. 

"I'd  like  to  talk  with  you,"  she  began,  "about  my 
husband's  mine.  Of  course  youVe  heard  of  the 
famous  Paymaster — that's  the  mill  right  over  east 
of  town — but  there  are  very  few  men  that  know 
what  I  do  about  the  reasons  why  that^mine  was 
shut  down.  It  was  commonly  reported  that  Colonel 
Huff  was  trying  to  get  possession  of  the  property, 
but  the  truth  of  the  matter  is  he  was  deceived  by 
old  John  Holman  and  finally  left  holding  the  sack. 
You  see,  it  was  this  way.  My  husband  and  John 
Holman  had  always  been  lifelong  friends,  but  Colonel 
Huff  was  naturally  generous  while  Holman  thought 
of  nothing  but  money.  Well,  my  husband  dis- 
covered the  Paymaster — he  was  led  to  it  by  an 
Indian  that  he  had  saved  from  being  killed  by  the 
soldiers — but,  not  having  any  money,  he  went  to 
John   Holman    and    they   developed   the    mine   to- 


THE  SHOTGUN  WIDOW  13 

gether.  It  turned  out  very  rich  and  such  a  rush 
you  never  saw — this  valley  was  full  of  tents  for 
miles — but  it  was  so  far  from  the  railroad — seventy- 
four  miles  to  Vegas — that  the  work  was  very  ex- 
pensive. The  Company  was  reorganized  and  Mr. 
Blount,  the  banker,  was  given  a  third  of  the  pro- 
motion stock.  Then  the  five  hundred  thousand 
shares  of  treasury  stock  was  put  on  the  market 
in  order  to  build  the  new  mill;  and  when  the  rail- 
road came  in  there  was  such  a  crazy  speculation 
that  everybody  lost  track  of  the  transfers.  My 
husband,  of  course,  was  generous  to  a  fault  and 
accustomed  to  living  like  a  gentleman — and  he 
invested  very  heavily  in  real  estate,  too — but  this 
Mr.  Blount  was  always  out  for  his  interest  and 
Honest  John  would  skin  a  dead  flea." 

"Honest  John!"  challenged  W7iley,  looking  up 
from  his  eating  with  an  ugly  glint  in  his  eye,  but 
the  Widow  was  far  away. 

"Yes,  Honest  John  Holman,"  she  sneered,  with- 
out noticing  his  resentment.  "They  called  him 
Honest  John.  Did  you  ever  know  one  of  these 
'  Honest  John'  fellows  yet  that  wasn't  a  thorough- 
paced scoundrel?  Well,  old  John  Holman  he  threw 
in  with  Blount  to  deprive  Colonel  HufF  of  his  profits 
and,  with  these  street  certificates  everywhere  and 
no  one  recording  their  transfers,  the  Colonel  was 
naturally  deceived  into  thinking  that  the  selling  was 
from  the  outside.  But  all  the  time,  while  they 
were  selling  their  stock  and  hammering  down  the 
price  of  Paymaster,  they  were  telling  the  Colonel 


i4  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

that  it  was  only  temporary  and  he  ought  to  sup- 
port the  market.  So  he  bought  in  what  he  could, 
though  it  wasn't  much,  as  he  was  interested  in 
other  properties,  and  then  when  the  crash  came 
he  was  left  without  anything  and  Blount  and  Hol- 
man  were  rich.  The  great  panic  came  on  and 
Blount  foreclosed  on  everything,  and  then  Mr. 
Huff  fell  out  with  John  Holman  and  they  closed 
the  Paymaster  down.  That  was  ten  years  ago 
and,  with  the  litigation  and  all,  the  stock  went 
down  to  nothing.  The  whole  camp  went  dead 
and  all  the  folks  moved  away — but  have  you  ever 
been  through  the  mine?  Well,  I  want  you  to  go — 
that  ground  has  hardly  been  scratched!" 

Wiley  Holman  glanced  up  doubtfully  from  under 
his  heavy  eyebrows  and  the  Widow  became  voluble 
in  her  protests. 

"No,  sir,"  she  exclaimed,  "I  certainly  ought  to 
know,  because  the  Colonel  was  Superintendent; 
and  when  he  had  been  drinking — the  town  was 
awful,  that  way — he  would  tell  me  all  about  the 
mine.  And  that  was  his  phrase — he  used  it  always: 
'That  ground  has  hardly  been  scratched !'  But 
when  he  fell  out  with  old  John  Holman  he — well, 
there  was  an  explosion  underground  and  the  glory- 
hole  stope  caved  in.  They  cleaned  it  out  after- 
wards and  hunted  around,  but  all  the  rich  ore  was 
gone;  but  I'm  just  as  certain  as  I'm  sitting  here 
this  minute  the  Colonel  knew  where  there  was  more! 
He  never  would  admit  it — he  was  peculiar,  that 
way,  he  never  would  discuss  his  business  before  a 


THE  SHOTGUN  WIDOW  15 

woman.  But  he  wouldn't  deny  it,  and  when  he 
had  been  drinking — well,  I  know  it's  there,  that's 
all!" 

She  paused  for  her  effect  but  Mr.  Wiley,  the 
mining  man,  was  singularly  unimpressed.  He  con- 
tinued eating  in  moody  silence  and  the  Widow 
tried  the  question  direct. 

"Well,  what  do  you  think  about  it?"  she  de- 
manded bluffly.  "Would  you  like  to  consider  the 
property?" 

"No,  I  don't  think  so,"  he  answered  imper- 
sonally.    "I'm  on  my  way  up  north." 

"Well,  when  you  come  back,  then.  Since  my 
husband  is  gone  Fm  so  sick  and  tired  of  it  all  I'll 
consider  any  offer — for  cash." 

"Nope,"  he  responded,  'fFm  out  for  something 
different."  Then  to  stem  the  tide  of  her  impend- 
ing protest,  he  broke  his  studious  silence.  "I'm 
looking  for  molybdenum,"  he  went  on  quickly, 
"and  some  of  these  other  rare  metals  that  are 
in  demand  on  account  of  the  war.  Ever  find  any 
vanadium  or  manganese  around  here?  No,  I  guess 
they're  all  further  north." 

He  returned  to  his  meal  and  the  Widow  surveyed 
him  appraisingly  with  her  bold,  inquisitive  eyes. 
She  was  a  big,  strapping  woman,  and  handsome  in 
a  way;  but  the  corners  of  her  mouth  were  drawn 
down  sharply  in  a  sulky,  lawless  pout. 

"Aw,  tell  me  the  truth,"  she  burst  out  at  last. 
"What  have  you  got  against  the  property?' 

A  somber  glow  came  into  his  eyes  as  he  opened 


16  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

his  lips  to  speak,  and  then  he  veiled  his  smouldering 
hate  behind  a  crafty  smile. 

"The  parties  that  I  represent,"  he  said  delib- 
erately, "are  looking  for  a  mine.  But  the  man 
that  puts  his  money  into  the  Paymaster  property 
is  simply  buying  a  lawsuit." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  demanded  the  Widow, 
rousing  up  indignantly  in  response  to  this  sudden 
thrust. 

"I  mean,  no  matter  how  rich  the  Paymaster 
may  be — and  I  hear  the  whole  district  is  worked 
out — I  wouldn't  even  go  up  the  hill  to  look  at  it 
until  you  showed  me  the  title  was  good." 

The  Widow  sat  and  glowered  as  she  meditated  a 
fitting  response  and  then  she  rose  to  her  feet. 

"Well,  all  right,  then,"  she  sulked,  "if  you 
don't  want  to  consider  it — but  you're  missing  the 
chance  of  your  life." 

"Very  likely,"  he  muttered  and  reached  for  his 
hat.     "Much  obliged  for  cooking  my  dinner." 

He  started  for  the  door,  but  she  flew  swiftly 
after  him  and  snatched  him  back  into  the  room. 

"Now  here!"  she  cried,  "I  want  you  to  listen 
to  me — I've  got  tired  of  this  everlasting  waiting. 
I  waited  around  for  ten  years  on  the  Colonel,  to 
settle  this  matter  up,  and  now  that  he's  gone  I'm 
going  to  settle  it  myself  and  get  out  of  the  cussed 
country.  Maybe  I  don't  own  the  mine,  but  I 
own  a  good  part  of  it — I've  got  two  hundred  thou- 
sand shares  of  stock — and  I  could  sell  it  tomorrow 
for   twenty   thousand   dollars,   so  you   don't   need 


THE  SHOTGUN  WIDOW  17 

to  turn  up  your  nose.  There  must  be  something 
there  after  all  these  years,  to  bring  an  offer  of 
ten  cents  a  share;  but  I  wouldn't  take  that  money 
if  it  was  the*  last  act  of  my  life — I  just  hateHhat 
Honest  John  Holman!  He  cheated  my  husband 
out  of  everything  he  had — and  yet  he  did  it  in  such 
a  deceitful  way  that  the  Colonel  would  never  be- 
lieve it.  I've  called  him  a  coward  a  thousand 
times  for  tolerating  such  an  outrage  for  an  instant, 
and  now  that  he's  gone  I'm  going  to  show  Honest 
John  that  he  can't  put  it  over  me\" 

She  shook  her  head  until  her  heavy  black  hair 
flew  out  like  Medusa's  locks  and  then  Wiley  laughed 
provokingly. 

"All  right,"  he  said,  "but  you  can't  rope  me  in 
on  your  feuds.  If  you  want  to  give  me  an  option 
on  your  stock  in  the  company  for  five  or  ten  cents 
a  share  I  may  take  a  look  at  your  mine.  But  I'll 
tell  you  one  thing — you'll  sign  an  agreement  first 
to  leave  the  country  and  never  come  back.  I'm 
a  business  man,  working  for  business  people,  and 
these  shotgun  methods  don't  go." 

"Well,  I'll  do  it!"  exclaimed  the  W7idow,  passing 
by  his  numerous  insults  in  a  sudden  mad  grab  at 
release.  "Just  draw  up  your  paper  and  I'll  sign  it 
in  a  minute — but  I  want  ten  cents  a  share!" 

"Ten  cents  or  ten  dollars — it  makes  no  difference 
to  me.  You  can  put  it  as  high  as  you  like — but  if 
it's  too  high,  my  principals  won't  take  it.  I  can't 
stop  to  inspect  it  now,  because  I'm  due  up  north, 
but  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do.     You  give  me  an 


1 8  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

option  on  all  your  stock,  with  a  written  permission 
to  take  possession,  and  if  the  other  two  big  owners 
will  do  as  much  I'll  come  back  and  consider  the 
mine.  But  get  this  straight — the  first  time  you 
butt  in,  this  option  and  agreement  is  off!" 

"What  do  you  mean — butt  in?"  demanded  the 
Widow  truculently,  and  then  she  bit  her  lip.  "Well, 
never  mind,"  she  said,  "just  draw  up  your  papers. 
I'll  show  you  I'm  business  myself." 

"Huh!"  he  grunted  and,  whipping  out  a  fountain 
pen,  he  sat  down  and  wrote  rapidly  at  a  table. 
"There,"  he  said  tearing  the  leaf  from  his  notebook 
and  putting  it  into  her  hands,  "just  read  that  over 
and  if  you  want  to  sign  it  we'll  close  the  deal,  right 
here." 

The  Widow  took  the  paper  and,  turning  it  to  the 
light,  began  a  labored  perusal. 

"Memorandum  of  agreement,"  she  muttered, 
squinting  her  eyes  at  his  handwriting,  "hmm,  I'll 
have  to  go  and  get  my  glasses.  'For  and  in  con- 
sideration of  the  sum  of  ten  dollars — to  me  in 
hand  paid  by  M.  R.  Wiley,'  and  so  forth — oh  well, 
I  guess  it's  all  right,  just  show  me  where  to  sign." 

"No,"  he  said,  "let  me  read  it  to  you — you 
ought  to  know  what  you're  signing." 

'No,  just  show  me  where  to  sign,"  protested  the 
Widow  petulantly,  "and  where  it  says  ten  cents  a 
share." 

"Well,  it  says  that  here,"  answered  Wiley,  putting 
his  finger  on  the  place,  "but  I'm  going  to  read  it 
to  you — it  wouldn't  be  legal  otherwise." 


THE  SHOTGUN  WIDOW  19 

He  wiped  the  beaded  sweat  from  his  brow  and 
glanced  towards  the  kitchen  door.  In  this  des- 
perate game  which  he  was  framing  on  the  Widow 
the  luck  had  all  come  his  way,  but  as  he  cleared  his 
throat  and  commenced  to  read  Virginia  came 
bounding  in.  She  was  carrying  a  kitten,  but  when 
she  saw  the  paper  between  them  she  dropped  it 
on  the  floor. 

"Virginia!"  cried  her  mother,  "go  and  hunt  my 
glasses.     They're  somewhere  in  my  bedroom." 

"All  right/'  she  responded,  but  when  she  came 
back  she  glanced  inquiringly  at  the  paper. 

"You  can  go  now,"  announced  the  Widow,  ad- 
justing her  glasses,  but  Virginia  threw  up  her 
head. 

"Do  you  know  who  that  is?'  she  demanded 
brusquely,  pointing  an  accusing  ringer  at  Wiley. 

"Why — er — no,"  returned  the  Widow,  now  ab- 
sorbed in  the  agreement. 

"Well,  all  right,"  she  said  after  a  hasty  perusal, 
"but  where's  that  sum  of  ten  dollars?  Now  you 
hush,  Virginia,  and  go — into — the — kitchenl  Now, 
it  says  right  here — oh,  where  is  that  place?  Oh 
yes,  'the  receipt  whereof  is  hereby  acknowledged'! 
Virginia!" 

She  stamped  her  foot,  but  Virginia's  blood  was 
up  and  she  made  a  grab  at  the  paper. 

"Now,  listen!"  she  screamed,  stopping  her  mother 
in  her  rush.  "That  man  there  is  Wiley  Holman! 
Yes — Holman!  Old  Honest  John's  son!  What's 
this  you're  going  to  sign?" 


20  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

She  backed  away,  her  eyes  fixed  on  the  agree- 
ment, while  the  Widow  stood  astounded. 

"Wiley  Holmanl"  she  shrieked,  "why,  you  limb 
of  Satan,  you  said  your  name  was  Wiley!" 

"It  is,"  returned  Wiley  with  one  eye  on  the  door, 
"the  rest  of  my  name  is  Holman." 

"But  you  signed  it  on  this  paper — you  wrote  it 
right  there!  Oh,  I'll  have  the  law  on  you  for 
this!" 

She  clutched  at  the  paper  and  as  Virginia  gave 
it  to  her  mother  she  turned  an  accusing  glance 
upon  Wiley. 

"Yes,  that's  just  like  you,  Mr.  M.  R.  Wiley," 
she  observed  with  scathing  sarcasm.  "You  were 
just  that  way  when  you  were  a  kid  here  in  Keno — 
always  trying  to  get  the  advantage  of  somebody. 

But  if  I'd  thought  you  had  the  nerve "     She 

glanced  at  the  paper  and  gasped  and  Wiley  showed 
his  teeth  in  a  grin. 

"Well,  she  crowded  me  to  it,"  he  answered  with 
a  swagger.  "I'm  strictly  business — I'll  sign  up 
anybody.  You  can  just  keep  that  paper,"  he  nodded 
to  the  Widow,  "and  send  it  to  me  by  mail/3 

He  winked  at  Virginia  and  slipped  swiftly  out 
the  door  as  the  Widow  made  a  rush  for  her  gun. 
She  came  out  after  him,  brandishing  a  double- 
barreled  shotgun,  just  as  he  cranked  up  his  machine 
to  start. 

"I'll  show  you!"  she  yelled,  jerking  her  gun  to 
her  shoulder.  "I'll  learn  you  to  get  funny  with 
me  I 


THE  SHOTGUN  WIDOW  21 

She  pulled  the  trigger,  but  Wiley  was  watching 
her  and  he  ducked  down  behind  the  radiator. 

Clank,  went  the  hammer  and  with  a  wail  of 
rage  the  Widow  snapped  the  other  barrel. 

"You,  Virginia!'  she  cried  in  a  terrible  voice, 
"have  you  been  monkeying  with  my  shotgun ?" 

The  answer  was  lost  in  a  series  of  explosions  that 
awoke  every  echo  in  Keno,  and  Wiley  Holman 
leapt  into  his  machine.  He  jerked  off  his  brake 
and  stepped  on  the  foot  throttle  but  as  he  roared 
off  up  the  street  he  waved  a  grimy  hand  at  Virginia. 


CHAPTER  III 

The  Shadow 

THE  old,  settled  quiet  returned  to  sleepy 
Keno — the  quiet  of  the  desert  and  of  empty, 
noiseless  houses  stretching  in  long,  sunburned 
rows  down  the  canyon.  The  black  lava  patch, 
laid  across  the  gray  rhyolite  flank  of  Shadow  Moun- 
tain like  the  shade  of  an  angry  cloud,  still  frowned 
down  upon  the  town  like  a  portent  of  storms  to 
come.  But  the  sky  was  hot  and  gleaming  and 
no  storms  came;  nor  did  Wiley  Holman  return, 
though  the  Widow  waited  for  him  patiently.  After 
all  his  boldness,  his  unbelievable  effrontery  in  trying 
to  steal  her  Paymaster  stock,  he  had  gone  on  laughing 
to  seek  other  adventures  and  left  her  with  the  mine 
on  her  hands.  But  he  would  come  back,  she  knew 
it;  and  with  her  gun  loaded  with  buckshot  she 
watched  from  the  shelter  of  the  gallery. 

Yet  the  days  went  by  and  then  the  weeks  and 
at  last  the  Widow,  with  a  sigh  of  vexation,  put 
up  her  gun  and  retired  within.  Now  that  the 
episode  was  over  she  felt  vaguely  regretful  that  he 
had  failed,  after  all,  in  his  purpose.  If  he  had 
procured  his  option,  under  cover  of  her  blindness, 
and    obtained    her    quit-claim    to    the    mine,    she 

22 


THE  SHADOW  23 

would  at  least  have  had  the  satisfaction  of  obtain- 
ing her  own  terms — and  she  would  have  the  twenty 
thousand  to  spend.  It  was  maddening,  disgusting, 
when  she  thought  it  over,  that  he  had  turned  out 
to  be  Holman's  son,  and  she  never  quite  forgave 
Virginia  for  dinning  the  fact  into  her  ears.  For 
what  you  don't  know  will  never  hurt  you,  and  she 
had  lost  her  last  chance  to  sell.  When  she  went 
back  into  the  house  she  went  back  into  the  kitchen, 
and  there  she  would  have  to  stay.  Either  that 
or  take  Honest  John's  money. 

But  he  wanted  the  property — the  Widow  knew  it — 
else  why  had  he  sent  his  son?  All  the  wise-acres 
in  Keno  agreed  with  the  Widow  that  Honest  John 
had  designs  on  her  property  and  Death  Valley 
Charley,  who  had  jumped  half  the  claims  in  the 
district,  began  once  more  to  carry  his  gun.  It 
was  by  virtue  of  that,  more  than  of  assessment 
work  done  or  of  any  other  legal  right,  that  Charley 
held  title  to  his  claims;  and  until  Wiley  had  come 
through  town  and  attempted  to  bond  the  Paymaster 
he  had  feared  no  one  but  Stiff  Neck  George.  Stiff 
Neck  George  had  been  Blount's  gun-man  on  the 
momentous  occasion  when  they  had  tried  to  jump 
the  Paymaster — and  the  Widow  Huff  had  put  him 
to  flight  with  one  blast  from  her  trusty  shotgun. 
But  now  that  big  interests  were  sending  in  their 
experts  and  mining  was  picking  up  everywhere 
Stiff  Neck  George  might  forget  that  humiliating 
defeat,  so  Death  Valley  Charley  put  on  his  six- 
shooter. 


24  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

He  was  a  little,  stooping  man,  burned  chocolate 
brown  by  the  sun  and  with  eyes  half  blinded  by  the 
glare,  and  as  the  Widow  gave  up  her  fruitless  vigil, 
Death  Valley  Charley  took  her  place.  But  he  was 
not  alone,  for  through  all  the  weary  weeks  Virginia 
had  been  watching  her  mother.  She  had  slipped 
in  and  out,  now  lingering  on  the  gallery,  now  listening 
through  the  doorway,  expectant  but  at  the  same  time 
afraid.  She  knew  Wiley  Holman  much  better  than 
her  mother,  and  she  knew  that  he  would  come  back. 
He  was  patient,  that  was  all,  more  patient  than 
an  Indian,  and  he  had  his  eye  on  their  mine.  For 
ten  years  and  more  Colonel  Huff,  and  now  t 
Widow,  had  held  physical  possession  of  the  P? 
master.  Every  great  iron-bound  door  was  locked 
and  padlocked  and  the  Huff  family  held  the  keys, 
but  in  all  those  ten  years  Holman  had  never  come 
near  it  and  Blount  had  merely  seized  it  on  a  labor 
lien.  The  very  title  to  the  mine  was  shrouded  in 
mystery,  for  no  one  could  locate  the  shares,  and  to 
openly  lay  claim  to  it  and  produce  a  majority  of 
the  stock  would  be  equivalent  to  a  confession  of 
treachery.  All  that  anyone  knew  surely  was  that 
some  one  of  the  three  original  owners — or  some 
unsuspected  party  outside — had  bought  in  and  se- 
questered the  almost  valueless  stock  and  was 
patiently  biding  his  time.  Since  the  Huffs  did  not 
own  the  stock  themselves  they  knew  for  a  cer- 
tainty that  it  was  held  by  either  Holman  or  Blount. 

As  Virginia  sat  on  the  gallery,  listening  subcon- 
sciously for  the  drumming  of  Wiley's  racing  motor 


THE  SHADOW  25 

up  the  road,  she  ran  over  in  her  mind  the  circum- 
stances of  his  visit;  and  she  could  explain  them 
all  but  one.  Why,  after  failing  of  his  mission,  and 
narrowly  escaping  her  mother's  gun,  had  he  waved 
his  hand  and  smiled  so  gayly  as  he  thundered  away 
up  the  street?  Had  he  other  schemes  more  subtle; 
or  was  he  simply  reckless,  regarding  even  this  ad- 
venture as  a  joke?  As  a  boy  he  had  been  both — 
a  crafty  schemer  and  reckless  doer — but  now  he 
was  grown  to  a  man.  And  if  the  lines  about  his 
mouth  were  any  criterion  he  would  soon  be  coming 
back  to  carry  out  by  stealth  what  he  failed  to 
accomplish  by  assault.  So  she,  too,  waited  patiently, 
to  foil  his  machinations  and  uphold  the  honor  of 
the  Huffs. 

In  the  good  old  days  it  had  never  been  forgotten 
that  the  Huffs  belonged  to  the  Virginia  quality, 
while  the  Holmans  came  from  Maine;  hence  the 
Colonel's  relations  with  Honest  John  Holman  had 
at  first  been  strictly  business.  John  Holman  was 
a  Northerner,  with  no  social  graces  and  abstemious 
to  a  fault,  but  when  his  commercial  honor  upon  a 
certain  occasion  had  saved  the  Colonel  from  bank- 
ruptcy he  had  cast  the  traditions  of  the  South  to 
the  winds  and  taken  Honest  John  as  his  friend. 
"My  friend,''  he  called  him  and  neither  his  wife 
nor  his  enemies  could  shake  the  Colonel's  faith  in 
his  partner.  Then,  after  years  of  mutual  trust, 
the  panic  had  come  on,  and  the  crash  in  Pay- 
master stock;  and  as  their  fortunes  went  tumbling 
and  ugly  rumors  filled  the  air  they  had   broken 


26  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

their  friendship  completely.  Yet  so  great  was  his 
love  for  his  old-time  friend  that  he  had  never  openly 
accused  him;  and  Honest  John  Holman,  after 
months  of  somber  silence,  had  moved  away  and 
started  a  cow  ranch.  But  it  was  a  question  of 
honesty  between  the  two  men  and  their  children 
had  never  forgotten.  Ten  years  had  passed  since 
they  had  been  boy  and  girl  together,  but  the  mo- 
ment they  met  the  old  quarrel  flashed  up  again 
and  now  the  feud  was  on. 

A  boisterous  blast  of  wind,  whirling  dust  and 
papers  down  the  street,  announced  the  beginning 
of  another  sandstorm;  and  Death  Valley  Charley, 
who  had  been  sitting  outside  the  gate,  came  mut- 
tering up  the  steps.  Behind  him  trotted  Heine, 
his  worshipful  little  dog,  and  as  Virginia's  pet  cat 
suddenly  arched  its  back,  Death  Valley  took  Heine 
in  his  arms. 

'Can't  you  hear  'em?"  he  asked  tiptoeing  rapidly 
up  to  Virginia.  "It's  them  big  guns,  over  in 
Europe.  It's  them  forty-two  centimeter  howitzers 
and  the  French  seventy-fives  in  the  trenches  along 
th>   Somme." 

Do  you  think  so?"  murmured  Virginia,  smooth- 
ing down  her  cat's  back,  "it  sounds  like  blasting  to 
me. 

"No — big  guns!"  repeated  Charley,  regarding  her 
intently  through  his  wavering,  sun-blinded  eyes, 
and  then  he  burst  into  a  laugh.  "You  can  hear  'em, 
can't  you,  Heine?"  he  cried  to  his  dog,  and  Heine 
squirmed  ecstatically  and  sneezed.      "Hah,    that's 


THE  SHADOW  27 

my  little  dog — youre'  so  confectionate!  Now  get 
down  on  the  floor,  and  don't  you  go  near  that 
cat. 

He  put  down  the  dog  and  advanced  closer  to 
Virginia. 

"He's  coming!"  he  whispered.  "I  can  hear 
him,  plain — jurrr,  jurrr;  hud,  hud,  hud,  hud,  hud!" 

"Who's  coming?"  demanded  Virginia,  looking 
swiftly  up  the  road. 

"Why — him!  The  man  your're  waiting  for. 
Can't  you  hear  him!  Hrrrr — rud!  He's  coming  to 
grab  you  and  take  you  away  in  his  auto!" 

"Oh,  Charley!"  exclaimed  Virginia,  not  entirely 
displeased,  "and  where  will  you  go  then?" 

"I'll  go  to  Death  Valley,"  he  answered  mys- 
teriously. "  There's  lots  of  gold  over  there.  I 
came  back  one  time  and  they  says  to  me:  'Charley, 
where've  you  been  for  such  a  long  time?'  'In 
Death  Valley,'  I  says,  'in  the  Funeral  Range. 
Working  in  the  Coffin  mine,  on  the  graveyard  shift.' 
Hah,  hah;  they  can't  get  nothing  out  of  me.  I 
know  where  there's  gold — in  the  Ube-Hebes;  it's 
a  place  where  nobody  goes.  I  saw  your  father 
there,  the  last  time  I  went  through,  and  he  sent 
word  to  you  not  to  worry.  '  But  for  Christ's  sake,' 
he  says,  'don't  tell  my  wife  I'm  here — I'm  tired  of 
her  devilish  chatter!" 

"Charley!"  reproved  Virginia,  and  as  he  subsided 
into  mutterings,  she  looked  about  with  shocked 
eyes.  "You  talk  too  much,"  she  said  at  last. 
"Didn't  I  tell  you  not  to  say  that  again?     Because 


28  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

if  mother  hears  it  she'll  drive  you  out  of  the 
house,  and  then  what  will  Heine  do?" 

"Heine!  Come  here,  sir!"  commanded  Charley 
abruptly,  and  slapped  him  until  he  yelped.  "Well, 
now,"  he  warned  as  Heine  slunk  away,  "you  look 
out  or  you  lose  your  house." 

"I  guess  you'd  better  go  now,"  said  Virginia  dis- 
creetly, and  continued  her  vigil  alone.  Death  Valley 
was  harmless,  but  when  he  began  hearing  things 
there  was  no  telling  where  he  would  stop.  The 
next  minute  he  would  be  seeing  things,  and  then 
getting  messages,  and  then  looking  through  moun- 
tains with  radium.  He  was  harmless,  of  course, 
but  when  there  was  a  sand-storm — well,  some 
people  thought  he  was  crazy.  And  there  was  a 
sand-storm  coming  up.  It  was  blowing  in  from  the 
north  and  rushing  clouds  of  dirt  down  the  street; 
and  along  in  the  night,  when  it  had  gained  its 
full  force,  the  sand  and  gravel  would  fly.  She 
rose  to  go  in,  but  just  at  that  moment  she  heard 
a  low  drumming  up  the  street.  It  increased  to 
a  bubbling,  a  drumming,  a  thunder,  and  like  the 
spirit  of  the  rough  north  wind  Wiley  Holman  went 
racing  through  the  town.  His  hat  was  off  and  as 
he  drifted  by  his  hair  thrashed  wildly  in  his  eyes, 
yet  he  glanced  up  in  passing  and  it  seemed  to  Vir- 
ginia that  he  gave  her  a  roguish  smile.  Then  in 
a  series  of  explosions  that  brought  the  Widow  run- 
ning he  dashed  on  and  whirled  out  across  the 
desert. 

"Oh,   that   devil!"    she   raged,    brandishing   her 


THE  SHADOW  29 

heavy  shotgun  at  the  disappearing  cloud  of  dust. 
"He's  just  making  that  hubbub  to  mock  me!  He'll 
be  coming  back — I  know  it,  the  scoundrel — but 
you  wait,  he  won't  fool  me  again!" 

She  stood  on  the  gallery  while  the  food  scorched 
in  the  kitchen  and  watched  the  boring  arrow  of 
dust,  but  it  swept  on  and  on  across  the  boundless 
desert  until  at  last  it  was  lost  in  the  storm.  "Oh, 
he'll  be  back!"  she  screamed  to  the  gathering  neigh- 
bors. "I  know  him,  he's  after  my  mine.  But  he'd 
better  watch  out!  If  he  ever  goes  near  it,  I'll 
shoot  him,  you  mark  my  word!" 

"No,  he  won't,"  said  Virginia,  but  when  they 
were  all  gone  she  came  back  and  gazed  down  the 
road. 


CHAPTER  IV 
The  Ghost-man 

AS  the  sun  paled  to  nothing  in  the  yellow  murk 
of  dust,  a  high  cloud  of  sand  overleapt  the 
northern  peaks  and  came  sifting  down  the 
slopes  of  Shadow  Mountain.  The  gusts  of  wind 
began  to  wail  in  boding  fury  and  then  the  storm 
struck  the  town.  Dirt  and  papers  flew  before  it; 
tin  cans  leapt  forth  from  holes  and  alleys;  and 
sticks  and  small  stones,  sucked  up  in  the  vortex, 
joined  in  on  the  devil's  dance.  Ancient  signs 
creaked  and  groaned  and  threatened  to  leave  their 
moorings,  old  houses  gave  up  shingles  and  loose 
boards,  and  up  the  street  on  the  deserted  bank 
building,  the  fire-doors  banged  like  cannon.  Then 
the  night  came  on  and  the  streets  of  Keno  were 
empty,  except  for  the  flying  dirt. 

But  it  is  nights  such  as  this  that  move  some  men 
to  greater  daring  and  as  Wiley  Holman,  far  out 
on  the  desert,  felt  the  rush  and  surge  of  wind  he 
struck  a  swift  circle  and,  turning  back  towards 
Keno,  he  bored  his  way  into  the  teeth  of  the  storm. 
The  gravel  from  the  road  slashed  and  slatted 
against    his    radiator    and    his    machine    trembled 

3° 


THE  GHOST-MAN  31 

before  the  buffets  of  the  gale,  but  it  was  just  such 
a  night  as  he  needed  for  his  purpose  and  he  ran 
with  his  lights  switched  off.  If  the  Widow  Huff, 
by  any  chance,  should  glance  out  across  the  plain 
she  might  notice  their  gleam  and  divine  his  pur- 
pose, which  was  to  inspect  the  Paymaster  mine. 
As  a  stockholder  and  part  owner  it  was,  of  course, 
his  right  to  enter  the  premises  at  will,  but  the 
Widow  had  placed  her  own  personal  mandate 
above  the  laws  of  the  land,  and  it  was  better,  and 
safer,  to  avoid  all  discussion  by  visiting  the  prop- 
erty after  dark. 

Up  the  long  slope  of  the  valley  the  white  racer 
moved  slowly,  shuddering  and  thundering  as  it 
took  the  first  hill,  and  as  the  outlying  houses  leaped 
up  from  the  darkness,  Wiley  muffled  his  panting 
exhaust.  In  the  sheltered  valley,  under  the  lee 
of  Shadow  Mountain,  the  violence  of  the  wind  was 
checked  and  some  casual  citizen,  out  looking  at 
the  stars,  might  hear  him  above  the  storm.  He 
turned  off  the  main  road  and,  following  up  a  side 
street,  glided  quietly  into  the  shelter  of  a  barn, 
and  five  minutes  later,  with  his  prospector's  pick 
and  ore-sacks,  he  toiled  up  the  trail  to  the 
mine. 

The  Paymaster  mine  lay  on  the  slope  of  Gold 
Hill,  directly  overlooking  the  town — first  the  huge, 
dismantled  mill;  then  the  white  slide  of  the  waste 
dump;  and  then,  up  the  gulch,  the  looming  gallows- 
frame  of  the  hoist  and  the  dim  bulk  of  abandoned 
houses.     The  mine  had   made  the  town,   and  the 


32  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

town  had  clustered  near  it  in  the  broad  oval  of 
the  valley  below;  but  in  its  day  the  Paymaster  had 
been  a  community  by  itself,  with  offices'  and  bunk- 
houses  and  stores.  Now  all  was  deserted  and  in 
the  pale  light  of  the  moon  it  seemed  the  mere  ghost 
of  a  mine.  A  loose  strip  of  zinc  on  the  corrugated- 
iron  mill  drummed  and  shuddered  in  a  menacing 
undertone  and  at  uncertain  intervals  some  door 
inside  smote  its  frame  with  a  resounding  bang. 
Straining  timbers  creaked  and  groaned,  the  wind 
mourned  like  a  disembodied  spirit,  and  as  Wiley 
Holman  jumped  at  a  sudden  sound  he  turned  and 
glanced  nervously  behind  him. 

It  was  not  a  shadow  but  the  passing  of  a  shadow 
that  caught  his  roving  eye  and  as  he  stripped  off 
his  wind-goggles  and  looked  again  he  felt  by  in- 
stinct for  his  six-shooter.  But  it  was  not  on  his 
hip.  He  had  taken  his  pick  instead,  and  for  the 
first  time  he  felt  a  thrill  of  fear — not  fear  for  his 
life  nor  of  anything  tangible,  but  that  old,  pri- 
mordial fear  of  the  night  that  only  a  gun  can  banish. 
He  picked  up  a  rock  and  walked  back  down  the 
trail;  but  nothing  leapt  forth  at  him — even  the 
shadow  was  gone,  and  he  threw  the  rock  petulantly 
away.  It  was  the  wind,  and  the  noises,  and  the 
blinders  on  his  goggles;  but  now  that  the  great 
fear  was  born  he  jumped  at  every  sound.  He  had 
been  out  before  on  worse  nights  than  this — what 
was  it,  then,  that  he  feared?  With  his  back  against 
a  rock  he  stared  about  and  listened  until  at  last 
his  nerve  returned;    then  he  went  boldly  to  the 


THE  GHOST-MAN  33 

dump,  where  the  white  quartz  lay  the  thickest, 
and  began  to  dig  a  hole  with  his  pick. 

Deep  as  he  could  dig  there  was  nothing  but  the 
white  waste  and  he  paced  off  the  width  of  the 
pile;  then  very  systematically  he  moved  across 
the  slope,  grabbing  handfuls  of  fine  dirt  at  measured 
intervals  and  throwing  them  into  an  ore-sack. 
There  was  something  about  Virginia's  piece  of 
"barren  quartz"  that  had  appealed  to  his  pros- 
pector's eye  and  even  in  the  excitement  of  meeting 
the  Widow  he  had  not  forgotten  to  sequester  it. 
But  a  piece  of  rock  from  a  girl's  case  of  specimens 
is  a  far  call  from  "ore  in  place"  and  he  had  come 
back  that  night  to  look  the  mine  over  and  collect 
an  average  sample  from  the  dump.  There  were 
hundreds  of  tons  of  that  rock  on  the  dump  and  it 
certainly  was  his  right,  as  a  part  owner  in  the 
property,  to  sample  it  and  have  it  assayed. 

Back  and  forth  across  the  slide,  now  buffeted 
by  the  wind,  now  pelted  by  loosened  stones,  he 
continued  his  methodical  test  and  then  as  he  knelt 
to  dig  out  a  hole  a  great  rock  came  bounding  past. 
It  came  out  of  the  darkness  and  went  smashing 
down  the  hillside  like  some  terrific  engine  of  de- 
struction and  before  he  had  more  than  scrambled 
from  its  path  a  second  boulder  was  upon  him. 
He  dodged  it  by  a  hair's  breadth  and  fell  flat  on 
his  face,  just  as  a  stream  of  loose  stone  which  the 
first  flying  rock  had  dislodged  sent  him  rolling  and 
tumbling  down  the  slope  in  an  avalanche  of  flying 
debris.     For  a  minute  he  lay  breathless  while  the 


34  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

waste  rattled  past  him,  and  then  he  looked  up  the 
hill.  No  movement  of  his  had  started  those  great 
boulders.  They  had  been  launched  by  someone 
from  above,  and  as  he  raised  his  head  cautiously 
he  beheld  a  gaunt  figure  standing  outlined  against 
the  sky.  It  stood  like  a  gibbet,  its  head  to  one 
side,  a  pistol  in  its  hand;  but  as  Wiley  moved  the 
man  crouched  and  drew  back  as  if  he  feared  to 
be  seen. 

Who  he  was  Wiley  did  not  know,  nor  could  he 
divine  his  animus  in  thus  attempting  to  take  his 
life,  but,  being  caught  in  the  open  without  his  gun, 
he  played  safe  and  lay  quiet  where  he  had  fallen. 
The  wind  howled  along  the  ridges  and  trailed  off 
into  silence  and,  looking  around,  Wiley  caught 
the  wink  of  a  lantern  as  it  came  across  the  flat  from 
town.  The  crash  of  the  boulders  as  they  bounded 
down  the  dump  and  then  on  through  the  brush 
below  had  undoubtedly  aroused  some  inquisitive 
citizen,  who  was  coming  over  to  investigate.  Wiley 
rose  up  quickly,  for  he  did  not  wish  to  be  discovered, 
but  as  he  started  towards  the  trail  he  met  the 
ghost-man,  creeping  forward  with  his  pistol  ready 
to  shoot. 

At  times  like  this  a  man  acts  by  instinct,  and 
Wiley  Holman  dropped  to  the  ground;  then  with 
the  swiftness  of  an  Indian  he  bellied  off  down 
the  hill,  looking  back  after  every  lightning  move. 
The  man  was  a  murderer,  a  cold-blooded  assassin; 
and,  thinking  him  injured,  he  had  been  stealing 
up  to  his  hiding-place  to  give  him  the  coup  de  grace. 


THE  GHOST-MAN  35 

Wiley  rolled  into  a  gulch  and  peered  over  the  bank, 
his  eyes  starting  out  of  his  head  with,  fear;  and 
then,  as  the  lantern  began  to  bob  below  him,  he 
turned  and  crept  up  the  hill.  Two  trails  led  to- 
wards the  mine,  one  on  either  side  of  the  dump, 
and  as  the  wind  swept  down  with  a  sudden  gust 
of  fury,  he  ran  up  the  farther  trail.  Once  over 
the  hill  he  could  avoid  both  his  pursuers  and, 
cutting  a  wide  circle,  slip  back  to  his  machine  and 
escape.  The  wind  died  to  nothing  as  he  neared 
the  summit  and  he  turned  and  looked  back  down 
the  trail.  Something  moved — it  was  the  man,  his 
head  twisted  over  his  shoulder,  his  gun  still  held 
at  a  ready,  creeping  waspishly  up  the  path. 

Wiley  turned  and  fled,  sick  with  rage  at  his  own 
impotence,  but  as  he  whipped  over  the  dump  the 
earth  opened  up  before  him  and  he  slipped  and 
stopped  on  the  brink  of  a  chasm.  It  was  the 
caved-in  stope,  the  old  glory-hole  of  the  Paymaster, 
and  it  cut  off  his  last  escape.  A  sudden  sinking 
of  the  heart,  a  feeling  of  fate  being  against  him, 
came  over  him  as  he  slunk  along  the  bank;  and 
then,  as  a  path  opened  up  before  him,  he  took  the 
steep  slope  at  a  bound.  Further  on  in  the  darkness 
he  saw  the  roof  of  the  mill  and  the  broken  hum- 
mocks of  the  dump;  beyond  lay  the  other  trail 
and  the  open  country  and  his  car — and  the  six- 
shooter — beyond!  His  feet  seemed  to  fly  as  he 
dashed  across  the  level  and  breasted  a  sudden 
ascent  and  then  on  its  summit  as  the  wind  snatched 
him  back  someone  struck  him  in  full  flight.     "God!" 


36  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

he  cried,  and  fought  himself  free  but  the  other 
clutched  him  again. 

"Run!"  she  begged,  and  he  knew  it  was  Vir- 
ginia, but  he  was  in  a  panic  for  fear  of  what  was 
behind. 

"No!"  he  cried,  catching  her  roughly  in  his  arms 
and  starting  the  other  way,  "there's  a  crazy  man 
back  there  and — 


£  mere  ana ' 


No — no — no!'  she  clamored,  bringing  him  to  a 
halt  with  her  struggles.     "The  other  way — can't 

you    hear   what    I'm    saying    to    you "    And 

then  Wiley  saw  the  Widow. 

She  was  standing  on  the  dump  with  her  shot- 
gun raised  and  pointed,  and  he  hurled  Virginia 
to  one  side. 

"Don't  shoot!'  he  yelled,  but  as  he  ducked  and 
started  to  run,  the  Widow's  gun  spoke  out.  A 
blow  like  that  of  a  club  struck  his  leg  from  under 
him  and  he  fell  to  the  ground  in  a  heap,  but  even 
in  his  pain  he  remembered  the  presence  which  had 
followed  with  its  head  on  one  side. 

"You  danged  fool!'  he  cursed  as  the  Widow 
ran  up  to  him.  "Keep  that  cartridge,  whatever  you 
do.     There's  a  crazy  man  after  me  and %i 

"I  see  him!"  shrieked  the  Widow,  making  a 
dash  for  the  bank  with  her  gun  at  her  hip  for  the 
shot.  "You  git,  you  dastard!"  she  shrilled  into 
the  darkness  and  once  more  the  old  shotgun  roared 
forth. 

"Oh,  mother!"  wept  Virginia,  throwing  her  arms 
about  Wiley,  and  attempting  to  raise  him  up.     "Oh, 


THE  GHOST-MAN  37 

look  what  youVe  done — it's  Wiley  Holman — and 
now  I  hope  you're  satisfied!" 

"You  bet  I'm  satisfied!"  answered  the  Widow, 
exultingly.  "That  other  fellow  was  Stiff  Neck 
George!" 


CHAPTER  V 
A  Load  of  Buckshot 

SINCE  he  had  turned  back,  far  out  on  the 
desert,  and  braved  the  storm  to  inspect  the 
Paymaster  Mine,  Wiley  Holman  had  met 
nothing  but  disaster;  but  as  he  lay  on  the  ground 
with  one  leg  full  of  buckshot  he  blamed  it  all  on  the 
Widow.  Without  warning  or  justification,  without 
even  giving  him  a  chance,  she  had  sneaked  up  and 
potted  him  like  a  rabbit;  and  now,  as  men  came 
running  to  witness  his  shame,  she  gloried  in  her 
badness. 

"Aha-ah!"  she  jeered,  coming  back  to  stand  over 
him  and  Wiley  reached  for  a  stone. 

"You  old  she-cat,"  he  burst  out,  "you  say  an- 
other word  to  me  and  I'll  bounce  this  rock  off  your 
head!" 

He  groaned  and  dropped  the  rock  to  take  his 
leg  in  both  hands,  and  then  Virginia  rushed  to  the 
rescue. 

"How  badly  are  you  hurt?"  she  asked,  kneeling 
down  beside  him,  but  he  jerked  ungraciously  away. 

"Go  away  and  leave  me  alone!"  he  shouted  to 
the  world  at  large  and  the  Widow  took  the  hint 
to  withdraw.  Then  in  a  series  of  frenzied  curses 
Wiley  stripped  off  his  puttee  and  felt  of  his  injured 

38 


A  LOAD  OF   BUCKSHOT  39 

leg.  It  was  wet  with  blood  and  two  shot-holes 
in  his  shin-bone  were  giving  him  the  most  exquisite 
pain;  the  rest  were  just  flesh-wounds  where  the 
buckshot  had  pierced  his  leggings  and  imbedded 
themselves  in  the  muscles.  He  looked  them  over 
hastily  by  the  light  of  a  flashing  lantern  and  then 
he  rose  up  from  the  ground. 

"Gimme  that  gun  for  a  crutch!"  he  demanded 
of  the  Widow;  and  Mrs.  Huff,  who  had  been  sur- 
veying her  w7ork  with  awe,  passed  over  the  shot- 
gun in  silence.  "All  right,  now,"  he  went  on, 
turning  to  Death  Valley  Charley,  who  had  been 
patiently  holding  his  lantern,  "just  show  me  the 
trail  and  I'll  get  out  of  camp  before  some  crazy 
dastard  ups  and  kills  me." 

"That  was  Stiff  Neck  George,"  observed  Charley 
mysteriously.  "He's  guarding  the  Paymaster  for 
Blount." 

"Who — that  fellow  that  was  after  me?'  burst 
out  Wiley  in  a  passion  as  he  hobbled  off  down  the 
trail.  "What  the  hell  was  he  trying  to  do?  The 
whole  rotten  mine  isn't  worth  stealing  from  any- 
body. What's  the  matter  with  you  people — are 
you  crazy?" 

"Well,  that's  all  right!"  returned  the  Widow 
from  the  darkness.  "You  can't  sneak  in  and  jump 
my  mine!" 

"Your  mine,  you  old  tarrier!'  yelled  Wiley 
furiously.  "You'd  better  go  to  town  and  look  it 
up.  The  whole  danged  works  is  mine — I  bought 
it  in  for  taxes!" 


4o  'SHADOW;  MOUNTAIN 

"You — what?"  cried  the  Widow,  brushing  Vir- 
ginia and  Charley  aside  and  halting  him  in  the 
trail.     "You  bought  the  Paymaster  for  taxesV 

"Yes,  for  taxes,"  answered  Wiley,  "and  got 
stung  at  that!  Gimme  eighty-three  dollars  and 
forty-one  cents  and  you  can  have  it  back,  with 
costs.  But  now  listen,  you  old  battle-ax;  I've 
taken  enough  off  of  you.  You  went  up  on  my 
property  when  I  was  making  an  inspection  of  it 
and  made  an  attempt  on  my  life;  and  if  I  hear  a 
peep  out  of  you,  from  this  time  on,  I'll  go  down 
and  swear  out  a  warrant." 

"I  didn't  aim  to  kill  you,"  defended  the  Widow, 
weakly.     "I  just  tried  to  shoot  you  in  the  leg." 

"Well,  you  did  it,"  returned  Wiley,  and,  pushing 
her  aside,  he  limped  on  down  the  trail.  The  Widow 
followed  meekly,  talking  in  low  tones  with  her 
daughter,  and  at  last  Virginia  came  up  beside 
him. 

"Take  him  right  to  our  house,"  she  said  to 
Charley,  "and  I'll  nurse  him  until  he  gets  well." 

"No,  you  take  me  to  the  Holman  house!"  di- 
rected Wiley,  obstinately.  "I  guess  we've  got  a 
house  of  our  own." 

"Well,  suit  yourself,"  she  murmured,  and  fell 
back  to  the  rear  while  Wiley  went  hobbling  on. 
At  every  step  he  jabbed  the  muzzle  of  the  shotgun 
vindictively  into  the  ground,  but  as  he  reached 
the  flat  and  met  a  posse  of  citizens,  he  submitted 
to  being  carried  on  a  door.  The  first  pain  had 
passed  and  a  deadly  numbness  seemed  to  take  the 


A  LOAD  OF  BUCKSHOT  41 

place  of  its  bite;  but  as  he  moved  his  stiffened 
muscles,  which  were  beginning  to  ache  and  throb, 
he  realized  that  he  was  badly  hurt.  With  a  leg 
like  that  he  could  not  drive  out  across  the  desert, 
seventy-four  long  miles  to  Vegas;  nor  would  he, 
on  the  other  hand,  find  the  best  of  accommoda- 
tions in  the  deserted  house  of  his  father.  It  had 
been  a  great  home  in  its  day,  but  that  day  was 
past,  and  the  water  connections  too,  and  some- 
body must  be  handy  to  wait  on  him. 

"Say,"  he  said,  turning  to  Death  Valley  Charley, 
"have  you  got  a  house  here  in  town?  Well,  take 
me  to  it  and  I'll  pay  you  well,  and  for  anything 
else  that  you  do." 

"It  won't  cost  you  nothing,"  answered  Charley 
quickly.     "I  used  to  know  your  father." 

"Well,  }^ou  knew  a  good  man  then,"  replied 
Wiley  grimly,  but  Death  Valley  did  not  respond. 
The  Widow  Huff  was  listening  behind;  and  besides, 
he  had  his  doubts. 

"I'll  run  on  ahead,"  said  Charley  noncommittally, 
and  when  Wiley  arrived  a  canvas  cot  was  waiting 
for  him,  fully  equipped  except  for  the  sheets.  Vir- 
ginia came  in  later  with  a  pair  on  her  arm,  and 
after  a  look  at  Charley's  greasy  blankets  Wiley 
allowed  her  to  spread  them  on  the  bed.  Then, 
as  Death  Valley  laid  a  grimy  paw  on  his  leg  and 
began  to  pick  out  the  shot  Wiley  jerked  away  and 
asked  Virginia  impatiently  if  she  didn't  have  a 
little  carbolic. 

''Aw,  he'll  be  all  right,"  protested  Charley  cheer- 


42  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

fully,  as  Virginia  pushed  him  aside;  "them  buckshot 
won't  hurt  him  much,  nohow.  Jest  put  on  some 
pine  pitch  and  a  chew  of  tobacco  and  he'll  fall  off 
to  sleep  like  a  child." 

He  stood  blinking  helplessly  as  Virginia  heated 
some  water  and  poured  in  a  teaspoonful  of  car- 
bolic, then  as  she  bathed  the  wounds  and  picked 
out  the  last  shot,  Charley  placed  a  disc  on  his 
phonograph. 

"  Does  he  want  some  music  ? "  he  inquired  of  Heine, 
who  was  sitting  up  and  begging,  but  Virginia  put 
down  her  foot.  "No,  Charley,"  she  said  with  a 
forbidding  frown,  "you  go  ask  mother  for  a  needle 
and  thread." 

"He's  kind  of  crazy  to-night,"  she  whispered  to 
Wiley,  when  Death  Valley  was  safely  out  of  sight, 
"you'd  better  come  over  to  the  house." 

"Huh,  I  guess  we're  all  crazy,"  answered  Wiley, 
laughing  shortly.  "I  can  stand  it — but  how  does 
he  act?" 

"Oh,  he  hears  things — and  gets  messages — and 
talks  about  Death  Valley.  He  got  lost  over  there, 
three  years  ago  last  August,  and  the  heat  kind  of 
cooked  his  brains.  He  heard  your  automobile, 
when  you  came  back  to-night  —  that's  why 
mother  and  all  the  rest  of  them  went  over 
to  the  mine  to  get  you.  I'm  sorry  she  shot 
you  up." 

"Well,  don't  you  care,"  he  said  reassuringly. 
"But  she  sure  overplayed  her  hand." 

"Yes,  she  did,"  acknowledged  Virginia,  trying  not 


A  LOAD  OF  BUCKSHOT  43 

to  quarrel  with  her  patient,  "but,  of  course,  she 
didn't  know  about  that  tax  sale." 

"Well,  she  knows  it  now,"  he  answered  pointedly, 
and  when  Charley  came  back  they  were  silent. 
Virginia  bandaged  up  his  wound  and  slipped  away 
and  then  Wiley  lay  back  and  sighed.  There  had 
been  a  time  when  he  and  Virginia  had  been  friends, 
but  now  the  fat  was  in  the  fire.  It  was  her  fighting 
mother,  of  course,  and  their  quarrel  about  the 
Paymaster;  but  behind  it  all  there  was  the  old 
question  between  their  fathers,  and  he  knew  that 
his  father  was  right.  He  had  not  rigged  the  stock 
market,  he  had  not  cheated  Colonel  HufF,  and  he 
had  not  tried  to  pet  back  the  mine.  That  was 
a  scheme  of  his  own,  put  on  foot  on  his  own  initi- 
ative— and  brought  to  nothing  by  the  Widow. 
He  had  hoped  to  win  over  Virginia  and  effect  a 
reconcilication,  but  that  hole  in  his  leg  told  him 
all  too  well  that  the  Widow  could  never  be  fooled. 
And,  since  she  could  not  be  placated,  nor  bought 
off,  nor  bluffed,  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  quit. 
The  world  was  large  and  there  were  other  Virginias, 
as  well  as  other  Paymasters — only  it  seemed  such 
a  futile  waste.  He  sighed  again  and  then  Death 
Valley  Charley  burst  out  into  a  cackling  laugh. 

"I  heard  you,", he  said,  "I  heard  you  coming — 
away  up  there  in  the  pass.  Chuh,  chuh,  chuh, 
chud,  chud,  chud,  chud;    and  I  told  Virginny  you 


>> 


was  coming. 

"Yes,  I  heard  about  it,"  answered  Wiley  sourly, 
"and  then  you  told  the  Widow." 


44  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"Oh,  no,  I  didn't !"  exulted  Charley.  "She'd've 
killed  you,  sure  as  shooting.  I  just  told  Virginny, 
that's  all." 

"Oh!"  observed  Wiley,  and  lay  so  still  that 
Charley  regarded  him  intently.  His  eyes  were 
blue  and  staring  like  a  newborn  babe's,  but  behind 
their  look  of  childlike  innocence  there  lurked  a 
crafty  smile. 

"I  told  her,"  went  on  Charley,  "that  you  was 
coming  to  git  her  and  take  her  away  in  your  auto. 
She's  a  nice  girl,  Virginny,  and  never  rode  in  one 
of  them  things — I  never  thought  you'd  try  to 
steal  her  mine." 

"I  did  not!"  denied  Wiley,  but  Death  Valley  only 
smiled  and  waved  the  matter  aside. 

"Never  mind,"  he  said,  "they're  all  crazy,  any- 
how. They  get  that  way  every  north  wind.  I'm 
here  to  take  care  of  them — the  Colonel  asked  me 
to,  and  keep  people  from  stealing  his  mine.  It's 
electricity  that  does  it — it's  about  us  everywhere — 
and  that's  what  makes  'em  crazy;  but  electricity 
is  my  servant;  I  bend  it  to  my  will;  that's  how  I 
come  to  hear  you.  I  heard  you  coming  back, 
away  out  on  the  desert,  and  I  knowed  your  heart 
wasn't  right.  You  was  coming  back  to  rob  the 
Colonel  of  his  mine;  and  the  Colonel,  he  saved  my 
life  once.  He  ain't  dead,  you  know,  he's  over 
across  Death  Valley  in  them  mountains  they  call 
the  Ube-Hebes.  Yes,  I  was  lost  on  the  desert  and 
he  followed  my  tracks  and  found  me,  running  wild 
through    the    sand-hills;     and    then    Virginia    and 


A  LOAD  OF  BUCKSHOT  45 

Mrs.  Huff,  they  looked  after  me  until  my  health 
returned." 

"You  can  hear  pretty  well,  then,"  suggested 
Wiley  diplomatically.  "You  must  know  everything 
that  goes  on." 

"It's  the  electricity!"  declared  Charley.  "It's 
about  us  everywhere,  and  that's  what  makes  them 
crazy.  All  these  desert  rats  are  crazy,  it's  the 
electric  storms  that  does  it — Nevada  is  a  great 
state  for  winds.  But  when  they  comes  a  sand- 
storm, and  Mrs.  Huff  she  wraps  up  her  head,  I 
feel  the  power  coming  on.  I  can  hear  far  away 
and  then  I  can  hear  close — I  make  the  electricity 
my  slave.  But  the  rest,  they  go  crazy;  they  have 
headaches  and  megrims,  and  Mrs.  Huff  she  always 
wants  to  fight;  but  I'm  here  to  take  care  of  'em — 
the  Colonel  asked  me  to,  so  you  keep  away  from 
that  mine." 

"Oh,  sure,"  responded  Wiley,  "I  won't  bother 
the  mine.     As  soon  as  I'm  well  I'll  go  home." 

"No,  you  stay,"  returned  Charley,  becoming 
suddenly  confidential.  "I'll  show  you  a  moun- 
tain of  gold.  It's  over  across  Death  Valley, 
in    the    Ube-Hebes;    the    Colonel    is    over    there 


now." 


"Is  that  so?"  inquired  Wiley,  and  Charley  looked 
at  him  strangely,  as  if  dazed. 

"Aw,  no;  of  course  not!"  he  burst  out  angrily. 
"I  forgot — the  Colonel  is  dead.  You  Heine;  come 
xjver  here,  sir." 

Heine  crept  up  unwillingly  and  Charley  slapped 


46  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

him.  "Now — shut  up!"  he  admonished  and  went 
off  into  crazy  mutterings. 

"What's  that?"  he  cried,  rousing  up  suddenly  to 
listen,  and  a  savage  look  replaced  the  blank  stare. 
"Can't  you  hear  him?"  he  asked.  "It's  Stiff 
Neck  George — he's  coming  up  the  alley  to  kill 
you.  Here,  take  my  gun;  and  when  he  opens  the 
door  you  fill  him  full  of  holes!" 

Wiley  listened  intently,  then  he  reached  for  the 
heavy  pistol  and  sat  up,  watching  the  door.  The 
wind  soughed  and  howled  and  rattled  at  the  win- 
dows, over  which  Charley  had  stretched  heavy  blan- 
kets, and  it  seemed  to  his  startled  imagination  that 
someone  was  groping  at  the  door.  The  memory  of 
the  skulking  form  that  had  followed  him  rose  up 
with  the  distinctness  of  a  vision  and  at  a  knock 
on  the  door  he  cocked  his  pistol  and  beckoned  Death 
Valley  to  one  side. 

"Come  in!'  he  called,  but  as  the  door  swung 
open  it  was  Virginia  who  stood  facing  his  gun. 

"O — oh!'  she  screamed,  and  then  she  flushed 
angrily  as  Charley  began  to  laugh. 

"Well,  laugh  then,  you  fool,"  she  said  to  Wiley, 
"and  when  you're  through,  just  look  at  this  that 
we  found!" 

She  held  up  the  ore-bag  that  Wiley  had  lost  and 
strode  dramatically  in.  "Look  at  that!'  she  cried, 
and  strewing  the  white  quartz  on  the  table  she 
pointed  her  finger  in  his  face.  "You  stole  my 
specimen!"  she  cried  accusingly.  "That's  why  you 
came  back  for  more.     But  you  give  it  back  to  me 


A  LOAD  OF  BUCKSHOT  47 

— I  want  it  this  minute.  I  see  you're  honest — 
like  your  father!" 

She  spat  it  out  venomously,  more  venomously 
than  was  needful,  for  he  was  already  fumbling  for 
the  rock;  and  when  he  gave  it  back  he  smiled  over- 
scornfully  and  his  lower  lip  mounted  up. 

"All  right,"  he  said,  "you  don't  have  to  holler 
for  it.     You're  getting  to  be  just  like  your  mother." 

"I'm  not!'  she  denied,  but  after  looking  at  him 
a  minute  she  burst  into  tears  and  fled. 


CHAPTER  VI 
All  Crazy 

THE  wind  was  still  blowing  when  Wiley  was 
awakened  by  the  cold  of  the  October  morn- 
ing. In  the  house  all  was  dark,  on  account 
of  the  blankets  which  Death  Valley  had  nailed 
over  the  windows,  but  outside  he  could  hear  the 
thump  of  an  axe  and  the  whining  yelp  of  a  dog. 
Then  Charley  came  in,  his  arms  full  of  wood,  and 
lit  a  roaring  fire  in  the  stove.  Wiley  dozed  off 
again,  for  his  leg  had  pained  him  and  kept  him 
awake  half  the  night,  and  when  he  woke  up  it 
was  to  the  strains  of  music  and  the  mournful  howls 
of  Heine. 

"Ah,  you  are  so  confectionate!,,  exclaimed  Charley 
in  honeyed  tones  and  laughed  and  patted  him  on 
the  back.  "Don't  you  like  the  fiddle,  Heine? 
Well,  listen  to  this  now;  the  sweetest  song  of  all." 

He  stopped  the  rasping  phonograph  to  put  on 
another  record  and  when  Heine  heard  "Listen  to 
the  Mocking-bird "  he  barked  and  leapt  with  joy. 
Wiley  listened  for  awhile,  then  he  stirred  in  bed 
and  at  last  he  tried  to  get  up;  but  his  leg  was  very 
stiff  and  old  Charley  was  oblivious,  so  he  sank 
back  and  waited  impatiently.     Heine  sat  upon  the 

48 


ALL  CRAZY  49 

floor  before  the  largest  of  three  phonographs,  which 
ground  out  the  Mocking-bird  with  variations;  and 
each  time  he  heard  the  whistled  notes  of  the 
bird  he  rolled  his  eyes  on  Charley  with  a  soulful, 
beseeching  glance.  The  evening  before,  when  his 
master  had  cuffed  him,  Wiley  had  considered 
Heine  badly  abused;  but  now  as  the  concert  prom- 
ised to  drag  on  indefinitely  he  was  forced  to  amend 
his  opinion. 

"Say,"  he  spoke  up  at  last,  in  a  pause  between 
records,  "what's  the  chance  of  getting  something 
to  eat?" 

"Yes,  there's  plenty,"  answered  Charley,  and 
went  on  with  his  frolic  until  Wiley  rose  up  in  dis- 
gust. He  had  heated  some  water,  besides  tearing 
down  a  blanket  and  letting  the  daylight  in,  when 
there  came  a  hurried  knock  at  the  door  and  the 
Widow  appeared  with  his  breakfast.  She  avoided 
his  eyes,  bat  her  manner  was  ingratiating  and  she 
supplied  the  conversation  herself. 

"Good  morning!"  she  smiled, — "Charley,  stop 
that  awful  racket  and  let  Heine  go  out  for  his 
scraps.  Well,  I  brought  you  your  breakfast — • 
Virginia  isn't  feeling  very  well — and  I  hope  you're 
going  to  be  all  right.  No,  get  right  back  into 
bed  and  I'll  prop  you  up  with  pillows;  Charley's 
got  a  hundred  or  so.  I  declare,  it's  a  question 
which  can  grab  the  most;  old  Charley  or  Stiff 
Neck  George.  Every  time  anyone  moves  out — 
and  sometimes  when  they  don't — you'll  see  those 
two  ghouls  hanging  around;   and  the  minute  they're 


5o  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

gone,  well,  you  never  saw  anything  like  it,  the 
way  they  will  fight  for  the  loot.  Charley's  got  a 
whole  room  filled  up  with  bedding,  and  stoves  and 
tables  and  chairs;  and  George — he's  vicious — he 
takes  nearly  everything  and  piles  it  up  down  in  his 

warehouse.     It  isn't  his,  of  course,  but " 

"He  hauls  it  off  in  a  wheelbarrow/3  broke  in 
Charley,  virtuously.  "He  don't  care  what  he  does. 
They  was  a  widow  woman  here  whose  daughter 
got  sick  and  she  had  to  go  out  for  a  week,  and 
when  she  came  back — 


n  sne  came  DacK ' 


Yes,   her  whole  house  was   looted — he   carried 
off  even  her  sewing-machine!" 

"And  a  deep  line  of  wheelbarrow  tracks,"  added 
Charley,  unctuously,  "leading  from  her  house  right 
down  to  his.  She  nailed  up  all  her  windows  before 
she  went,  but  he " 

"Yes,  he  broke  in,"  supplied  the  Widow.  "He's 
a  desperate  character  and  everybody  is  afraid  of 
him,  so  he  can  do  whatever  he  pleases;  but  }tou 
bet  your  life  he  can't  run  it  over  me — I  filled  him  up 
with  buckshot  twice.  Oh — that  is — er — did  you 
ever  hear  how  he  got  his  head  twisted?  Well, 
go  right  ahead  now  and  eat  up  your  toast.  I  asked 
him  one  time — that  was  before  we'd  had  our  trouble 
— what  was  the  cause  of  his  head  being  to  one 
side.  He  looks,  you  know,  for  all  the  world  like 
he  was  watching  for  a  good  kick  from  behind;  but 
he  tried  to  appear  pathetic  and  told  me  a  long  story 
about  saving  a  mother  and  her  child  in  a  flood. 
And  when  it  was  all  over,   according  to  him,  he 


ALL  CRAZY  51 

fell  down  in  a  faint  in  the  mud;  but  the  best 
accounts  I  get  say  he  was  dead  drunk  in  the  gutter 
and  woke  up  with  his  head  on  one  side." 

She  ended  with  a  sniff  and  Wiley  glanced  at 
Charley,  but  he  was  staring  blankly  away. 

"I  don't  like  that  man,"  spoke  up  Charley  at 
last,  "he  kicked  my  dog,  one  time." 

"And  he  bootlegs  something  awful,"  added  the 
Widow,  desperately,  for  fear  that  the  chatter  would 
lag.  "There  doesn't  a  day  go  by  but  some  drunken 
Piute  comes  whooping  up  the  road,  and  that  bunch 
of  Shooshonnies " 

"Yes,  he  sells  to  the  bucks,"  observed  Death 
Valley,  slyly.  "They're  no  good — they  get  drunk 
and  tell.  But  you  can  trust  the  squaws — I  had 
one  here  yesterday " 

"You  what?'  shrieked  the  Widow,  and  Charley 
looked  up  startled,  then  rose  and  whistled  to  his  dog. 

"Go  lay  down!'  he  commanded  and  slapped 
him  till  he  yelped,  after  which  he  slipped  fearfully 
away. 

"The  very  idea!'  exclaimed  the  Widow  frigidly 
and  then  she  glanced  at  Wiley. 

"Mr.  Holman,"  she  began,  "I  came  out  here  to 
talk  business — there's  nothing  rourid-the-corner 
about  me.  Now  what  about  this  tax  sale,  and 
what  does  Blount  mean  by  allowing  you  to  buy  it 
in  for  nothing?" 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  answered  Wiley.  "He 
refused  to  pay  the  taxes,  so  I  bought  in  the  property 
myself." 


52  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"Yes,  but  what  does  he  meant" 

The  Widow's  voice  rose  to  the  old  quarrelsome, 
nagging  pitch,  and  Wiley  winced  as  if  he  had  been 
stabbed. 

"You'll  have  to  ask  him,  Mrs.  Huff,  to  find  out 
for  sure;  but  to  a  man  with  one  leg  it  looks  like 
this.  Whatever  you  can  say  about  him,  Samuel  J. 
is  a  business  man,  and  I  think  he  decided  that,  as 
a  business  investment,  the  Paymaster  wasn't  worth 
eighty-three,  forty-one.  Otherwise  he  would  have 
bought  it  himself." 

"Unless,  of  course,"  added  the  Widow  scornfully, 
"there  was  some  understanding  between  you." 

"Oh,  yes,  sure,"  returned  Wiley,  and  went  on 
with  his  eating  with  a  wearied,  enduring  sigh. 

"Well,  I  declare,"  exclaimed  the  Widow,  after 
thinking  it  over,  "sometimes  I  get  so  discouraged 
with  the  whole  darned  business  you  could  buy  me 
out  for  a  cent!" 

She  waited  for  a  response,  but  Wiley  showed  no 
interest,  so  she  went  on  with  her  general  complaint. 

"First,  it  was  the  Colonel,  with  his  gambling 
and  drinking  and  inviting  the  whole  town  to  his 
house;  and  then  your  father,  or  whoever  it  was, 
started  all  this  stock  market  fuss;  and  from  that 
time  it's  gone  from  bad  to  worse  until  I  haven't 
a  dollar  to  my  name.  I  was  brought  up  to  be  a 
lady — and  so  was  Virginia — and  now  we're  keep- 
ing a  restaurant!" 

Wiley  pulled  down  his  lip  in  masterful  silence  and 
set  the  breakfast  tray   aside.     It  was  nothing  to 


ALL  CRAZY  53 

him  what  the  Widow  Huff  suffered — she  had  brought 
it  all  on  herself.  And  whenever  she  was  ready  to 
write  to  his  father  she  could  receive  her  ten  cents 
a  share.  That  would  keep  her  as  a  lady  for  several 
years  to  come,  if  she  had  as  many  shares  as  she 
claimed;  but  there  was  nothing  to  his  mind  so 
flat,  stale  and  unprofitable  as  a  further  discussion 
of  the  Paymaster.  Indeed,  with  one  leg  wound 
up  in  a  bandage,  it  might  easily  prove  disastrous. 
So  he  looked  away  and,  after  a  minute,  the  Widow 
again  took  up  her  plaint. 

"Of  course/'  she  said,  "I'm  not  a  business  woman, 
and  I  may  have  made  some  mistakes;  but  it  doesn't 
seem  right  that  Virginia's  future  should  be  ruined, 
just  because  of  this  foolish  family  quarrel.  The 
Colonel  is  dead  now  and  doesn't  have  to  be  con- 
sidered; so — well,  after  thinking  it  over,  and  all 
the  rest  of  it,  I  think  I'll  accept  your  offer." 

"Which  offer?"  demanded  Wiley,  suddenly 
startled  from  his  ennui,  and  the  Widow  regarded 
him  sternly. 

"Why,  your  offer  to  buy  my  stock — that  paper 
you  drew  up  for  me.  Here  it  is,  and  I'm  willing  to 
sign  it." 

She  drew  out  the  paper  and  Wiley  read  it  silently, 
then  rolled  it  into  a  ball  and  chucked  it  into  the 
corner. 

"No,"  he  said,  "that  offer  doesn't  hold.  1  didn't 
know  you  then." 

"Well,  you  know  me  now!"  she  flashed  back 
resentfully,  "and  you'd  better  come  through  with 


S4  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

that  money.  I've  taken  enough  off  of  you  and 
your  father  without  standing  for  any  more  of 
your  gall.  Now  you  write  me  out  a  check  for 
twenty  thousand  dollars  and  here's  my  two  hundred 
thousand  shares.  I  know  you're  robbing  me  but 
I  simply  can't  endure  it — I  can't  stay  here  a  single 
day  longer!" 

She  burst  into  angry  tears  as  he  shook  his  head 
and  regarded  her  with  steady  eyes. 

"No,"  he  said,  "you  can't  do  business  that  way. 
I  haven't  got  twenty  thousand  dollars." 

"But — you  offered  it  to  me!  You  wrote  out 
this  paper  and  put  it  right  under  my  eyes " 

"No,"  he  said,  "I  never  offered  you  twenty 
thousand — I  offered  to  take  an  option  at  that 
price.  I  wanted  to  see  that  mine,  and  I  wanted  to 
see  it  peaceably,  and  I  thought  I  could  do  it  that 
way;  but  that  piece  of  paper  simply  gave  me  the 
option  of  buying  the  stock  if  I  wanted  to." 

"Well,  you  wanted  to  buy  the  stock — you  were 
crazy  to  get  hold  of  it — and  now,  when  I'm  willing, 
you  won't  take  it!" 

"No,  that's  right,"  agreed  Wiley,  leaning  back 
against  his  pillow.  "And  now,  what  are  you  going 
to  do  about  it?" 

"I'm  going  to  kill  you!'  shrieked  the  Widow 
in  a  frenzy.  "I'm  going  to  make  you  take  it!  I 
declare,  it  seems  like  every  single  soul  is  against 
me — and  me  a  poor  helpless  woman!" 

She  sank  back  in  a  chair  and  began  to  sob  hys- 
m  terically  and  Wiley  looked  about  for  the  old  shot- 


ALL  CRAZY  55 

gun.  It  was  far  too  short,  but  it  had  served  once 
as  a  crutch,  and  in  a  pinch  it  must  serve  him  again. 
Keno  was  no  place  for  him,  he  saw  that  very  plainly, 
and  it  was  better  to  risk  the  long  drive  across  the 
desert  than  to  stay  with  this  weeping  virago.  If 
she  didn't  kill  him  then  she  would  kill  him  later, 
and  he  was  powerless  to  strike  back  in  defense. 
She  would  take  advantage  of  every  immunity  of 
her  sex  to  obtain  her  own  way  in  the  end.  He 
located  the  gun — it  was  down  behind  his  bed  where 
he  had  dropped  it  when  they  helped  him  in — but 
as  he  was  fishing  it  up  the  door  burst  open  and 
Virginia  stood  looking  at  her  mother.  Behind  her 
appeared  Death  Valley  Charley,  his  eyes  blinking 
fearfully;  but  at  sight  of  the  Widow  he  ducked 
around  the  corner  while  Virginia  came  reso- 
lutely in. 

"Oh,  mother!"  she  burst  out  in  a  pleading,  re- 
proachful voice,  "can't  you  see  that  Wiley  is  sick? 
Well,  what's  the  use  of  creating  a  scene  when  it's 
likely  to  make  him  worse?" 

"I  don't  care!"  wailed  the  Widow.  "I  hope  he 
dies.     I  wis!)  I'd  killed  him — I  do!" 

"You  do  not!"  returned  Virginia,  and  shook  her 
reprovingly.  "I  declare,  I  wonder  what  poor  father 
would  think  if  he  heard  how  we'd  treated  a  guest. 
Now  you  go  back  to  the  house  and  don't  you  come 
out  again  until  Mr.  Holman  sends  for  you." 

"You  shut  up!'  burst  out  the  Widow,  pushing 
her  brusquely  aside.  "I  guess  I  know  what  I'm 
about.     But  I'll  fool  you,"  she  cried,  whirling  about 


56  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

on  Wiley  as  she  started  towards  the  door.  "I'll 
sell  my  stock  to  Blount!" 

She  paused  for  the  effect  but  Wiley  did  not 
answer  and  she  returned  to  pursue  her  advantage. 

"I  know  you!"  she  announced.  "You  and  old 
Honest  John — you're  trying  to  steal  my  mine. 
But  I'm  going  to  fool  you,  I'm  going  right  down  to 
Vegas  and  sell  every  share  to  Blount!" 

"Well,  go  to  it,"  returned  Wiley  after  a  long, 
defiant  silence,  "and  I  hope  you  stick  him  a-plenty!' 

"Why,  what's  the  matter?"  inquired  the  Widow, 
brushing  Virginia  away  again  and  swaggering  up  to 
his  bed.  "I  thought  you  and  Blount  were  good 
friends." 

"Yeh,  guess  again,"  replied  Wiley  grimly.  "I'll 
tell  him  the  mine  shows  up  fine." 

"Well,  it  does!"  she  asserted.  "The  Colonel 
said  it  wasn't  scratched.  And  didn't  you  steal 
that  piece  of  quartz  from  Virginia?  Oh,  you  gave 
it  back,  eh?  Well,  how  did  it  assay?  I  know 
you  found  something  pretty  good!" 

"How  could  I  give  it  back,  if  I'd  had  it  assayed?" 
asked  Wiley  wTith  compelling  calm. 

"Well  what  did  you  come  back  for?"  demanded 
the  Widow,  triumphantly.  "You  must  have  fig- 
ured to  win  somewhere." 

"Yes,  I  did,"  sighed  Wiley,  "but  I  was  badly 
mistaken.     All  I  want  now  is  to  get  out  of  town." 

"Well,  how  about  your  father?  That  offer  he 
made  me!     Has  he  backed  out  on  that,  too?" 

"No,   he   hasn't,"   answered   Wiley,   "my   father 


ALL  CRAZY  57 

keeps   his   word.     You    can   get   your   money    any 
time. 

"Well,  of  all  the  crazy  crooked  deals,"  the  Widow 
began  to  rave,  and  then  Wiley  grabbed  for  the 
shotgun. 

'It  may  be  crazy!'  he  shouted  savagely,  "but 
believe  me,  it  isn't  crooked.  My  father  never  did 
a  crooked  thing  in  his  life,  and  you  know  it  as  well 
as  I  do;  and  if  it  wasn't  that  you're  such  a  crook 
yourself " 

' Wiley  Holmanl'  raged  the  Widow,  but  he 
rose  up  on  his  crutch  and  shouldered  his  way  out 
the  door. 

"You're  crazy!'  he  yelled,  "the  whole  danged 
town's  crazy.     All  except  old  Charley  and  me." 

He  jerked  his  head  and  winked  at  Charle}^  as 
he  hobbled  towards  the  street  and  Death  Valley 
nodded  gravely.  There  was  a  long,  hateful  silence; 
then  the  great  motor  roared  out  and  the  white  racer 
rushed  away  across  the  desert. 

"Well,  I  don't  care!"  declared  the  Widow  as  she 
gazed  after  his  dust  and  when  the  stage  went  out 
that  day  it  took  a  lady  passenger  to  Vegas. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Between  Friends 

THE  madness  of  the  Widow  and  Old  Charley 
and  Stiff  Neck  George  was  no  mystery 
to  Wiley  Holman — it  was  the  same  form 
of  mania  which  he  encountered  everywhere  when 
he  went  to  see  men  who  owned  mines.  If  he  of- 
fered them  a  million  for  a  ten-foot  hole  they  would 
refuse  it  and  demand  ten  million  more,  and  if  he 
offered  them  nothing  they  immediately  scented  a 
conspiracy  to  starve  them  out  and  gain  possession 
of  their  mine.  It  was  the  illusion  of  hidden  wealth, 
of  buried  treasure,  which  keeps  half  the  mines  in 
the  West  closed  down  and  half  of  the  rest  in  liti- 
gation; except  that  in  Keno  it  seemed  to  be  asso- 
ciated with  gun-plays  and  a  marked  tendency 
towards  homicide.  So,  upon  his  return  from  a 
short  stay  in  the  hospital  he  came  up  the  main 
street  silently,  then  stepped  on  the  throttle  and 
went  through  town  a-smoking.  But  the  Widow 
was  out  waiting  for  him  in  the  middle  of  the  road 
and,  rather  than  run  her  down,  he  threw  on  both 
brakes  and  stopped. 

"Well,    what    now?'     he    inquired,    frowning    at 
the  odor  of  heated  rubber.    "What's  your  particular 

58 


BETWEEN  FRIENDS  59 

grievance  this  trip?"  He  regarded  her  coldly, 
then  bowed  to  Virginia  and  waved  a  friendly  hand 
at  Charley.  "Hello,  there,  Death  Valley,"  he 
called  out  jovially,  as  the  Widow  choked  with  a 
rush  of  words,  "what's  the  news  from  the  Funeral 
Range?" 

"Now,  here!"  exclaimed  the  Widow,  advancing 
from  the  dust  cloud,  and  glancing  into  the  machine. 
"I  want  you  to  bring  back  that  gun!" 

"I'm  sorry,  Mrs.  Huff,"  he  replied  with  finality, 
"but  you'll  have  to  get  along  without  it.  I  turned 
it  over  to  the  sheriff,  along  with  three  buckshot 
and  an  affidavit  regarding  the  shooting " 

"What,  you  great,  big  coward!'1  stormed  the 
Widow  in  a  fury.  "Did  you  run  and  complain  to 
the  sheriff?" 

"No,  I  walked,"  said  Wiley,  "and  on  one  leg 
at  that.  But  I  might  as  well  warn  you  that  next 
time  you  make  a  gun-play  you're  likely  to  break 
into  jail." 

"You're  a  coward ! "  she  taunted.  "  You're  standing 
in  with  Blount  to  beat  me  out  of  my  mine.  First 
you  sneak  off  with  my  gun,  so  I  can't  protect  my 
rights,  and  then  Stiff  Neck  George  comes  up  and 
jumps  the  Paymaster!" 

"The  hell!'  burst  out  Wiley,  rising  up  in  his 
seat  and  looking  across  at  the  mine. 

"Yes,  the  hell,"  she  returned,  "and  he's  warned 
off  all  comers  and  is  holding  the  mine  for  Blount!" 

"For  Blount!'  he  echoed  and,  seeing  him  roused 
at  last,  the  Widow  became  subtly  provocative. 


60  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"For  Samuel  J.  Blount,'5  she  repeated  impres- 
sively.    "He — he's  got  all  my  stock  on  a  loan." 

"Oh!"  observed  Wiley,  and  as  she  raved  on  with 
her  story  he  rubbed  his  chin  in  deep  thought. 

"Yes,  I  went  down  to  see  him  and  he  wouldn't 
buy  it,  so  I  left  it  as  collateral  on  a  loan.  And 
then  he  came  out  here  and  looked  over  the  mine 
again  and  told  Stiff  Neck  George  to  stand  guard. 
They're  fixing  to  pump  out  the  water." 

"Oho!"  exclaimed  Wiley,  and  his  eyes  began 
to  kindle  as  he  realized  what  Blount  had  done. 
Then  reaching  for  the  pistol  that  lay  handy  beside 
his  leg,  he  leapt  out  with  waspish  quickness,  only 
to  stop  short  as  he  hurt  his  lame  foot. 

"Go  on!"  hissed  the  Widow,  advancing  to  his 
shoulder  and  pointing  the  way  up  the  trail.  "He 
stays  right  there  by  the  dump.  The  mine  is  yours; 
go  put  him  off — I  would,  if  I  had  my  gun." 

"Aw,  pfooey!"  he  exclaimed,  suddenly  turning 
back  and  clamoring  into  his  seat.  "I've  got  one  game 
leg  already.     Let  'im  have  the  doggoned   mine." 

"What?  Are  you  going  to  back  out?  Well, 
you  are  a  good  one — and  it  stands  in  your  name, 
this  minute!" 

"Yes,  and  it  isn't  worth — that!'  he  said  with 
conviction,  and  snapped  his  finger  in  the  air.  "He 
can  have  it.  You  can  tell  Blount,  the  next  time 
you  see  him,  he  can  buy  in  that  tax  title  for  the 


costs." 


He    paused    and    muttered    angrily,    gazing    off 
towards   the   dump   where   crooked-necked   George 


BETWEEN  FRIENDS  6. 

stood   guard,    and   then   he   hopped   out   to   crank 

up. 

"Want  a  ride?'  he  asked,  as  he  saw  Virginia 
watching  him  and  she  hesitated  and  shook  her  head. 
"Come  on,"  he  smiled,  casting  aside  his  black  mood, 
"let's  take  a  little  spin — just  down  on  the  desert 
and  back.  What's  going  on — getting  ready  to 
move?" 

He  gazed  with  alarm  at  a  pile  of  packing  boxes 
that  the  Widow  had  marshaled  on  the  gallery  and 
then  he  looked  back  at  Virginia.  She  was  attired 
in  a  gown  that  had  been  very  chic  'in  the  fall  of 
nineteen  ten,  but,  though  it  was  scant  for  these 
bouffant  days,  she  was  the  old  Virginia  still — slim 
and  strong  and  dainty,  and  highbred  in  every 
line,  with  dark  eyes  that  mirrored  passing  thoughts. 
She  was  the  Virginia  he  had  played  with  when  Keno 
was  booming  and  his  own  sisters  had  been  there 
for  company;  and  now  after  ten  years  he  remem- 
bered the  time  when  he  had  asked  her,  in  vain,  for 
a  kiss. 

"I've  got  something  to  tell  you,"  he  said  at 
last  and  Virginia  stepped  into  the  racer. 

"Virginia!'  reminded  the  Widow,  and  then  at 
a  glance  she  turned  round  and  flung  into  the  house. 
There  were  times  and  occasions  when  she  had 
found  it  safer  not  to  press  her  maternal  authority 
too  far,  and  the  look  that  she  received  was  first 
notice  from  Virginia  that  such  an  occasion  had 
arrived.  The  motor  began  to  thunder,  Wiley  threw 
in  the  clutch,  and  with  a  speed  that  was  startling, 


foz  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

they  whipped  a  sudden  circle  and  went  bubbling 
away  down  the  road. 

It  stretched  on  endlessly,  this  road  across  the 
desert,  as  straight  as  a  surveyor's  line,  and  as  they 
cleared  the  rough  gulches  and  glided  down  into  its 
immensity  Virginia  glanced  at  the  desert  and  sighed. 

"Pretty  big,"  he  suggested  and  as  she  nodded 
slowly  he  raised  his  eyes  to  the  hills.  "I  don't 
know,"  he  went  on,  "whether  you'll  like  Los  An- 
geles.    You'll  get  lonely  for  this,  sometimes." 

"Yes,  but  not  for  that" — she  jerked  a  thumb 
back  at  Keno — "that  place  is  pretty  small.  What's 
left,  of  course;  but  it  seems  to  me  sometimes  they're 
all  of  them  lame,  halt  and  blind.  Always  quarreling 
and  backbiting  and  jumping  each  other's  claims — 
but — what  do  you  think  of  the  Paymaster?' 

She  shot  the  question  at  him  and  it  occurred 
suddenly  to  Wiley  that  perhaps  she  had  a  programme, 
too. 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you,"  he  began,  deftly  changing 
his  ground,  "I'm  in  Dutch  on  that,  all  around. 
When  I  came  home  full  of  buckshot  and  the  Old 
Man  heard  about  it  I  got  my  orders  to  come  back 
and  apologize.  Well,  I'll  do  that — to  you — and 
you  can  tell  your  mother  I'm  sure  sorry  I  went  up 
on  that  dump." 

He  grinned  and  motioned  to  his  injured  foot, 
but  Virginia  was  in  no  mood  for  a  joke. 

"That's  all  right,"  she  said,  "and  I  accept  your 
apology — though  I  don't  know  exactly  what  it's 
for.     But  I  asked  your  opinion  of  the  Paymaster." 


BETWEEN  FRIENDS  63 

"Oh,  yes,"  he  replied  and  then  he  began  to 
temporize.  "You'd  better  tell  me  what  you  want 
it  for,  first." 

"What?  Do  you  have  one  opinion  for  one  set  of 
people  and  another  for  somebody  else  ?  I  thought I" — 
She  paused  and  the  hot  blood  leapt  to  her  cheeks 
as  she  saw  where  her  temper  had  led  her.  "Well," 
she  explained,  "I've  got  a  few  shares  of  stock." 

She  said  it  quietly  and  the  suggestion  of  scolding 
gave  way  to  a  chastened  appeal.  She  remembered 
— and  he  sensed  it — that  winged  shaft  which  he 
had  flung  back  when  she  had  said  he  was  honest, 
like  his  father.  He  had  told  her  then  she  was 
becoming  like  her  mother,  and  Virginia  could  never 
endure  that. 

"Ah,  I  see,"  he  answered  and  went  on  hurriedly 
with  a  new  note  of  friendliness  in  his  voice.  "Well, 
I'll  tell  you,  Virginia,  if  it  will  be  any  accommo- 
dation to  you  I'll  take  over  that  stock  myself. 
But — well,  I  hate  to  advise  you — because — how 
many  shares  have  you  got?" 

"Oh,  several  thousand,"  she  responded  casually. 
"They  were  given  to  me  by  father — and  by  dif- 
ferent men  that  I've  helped.  Mr.  Masters,  you 
know,  that  I  took  care  of  for  a  while,  he  gave  me 
all  he  had  when  he  died.  But  I  don't  want  to 
sell  them — I  know  there's  no  market,  because 
Blount  wouldn't  give  Mother  anything — but  if  he 
should  happen  to  strike  something " 

She  glanced  across  at  him  swiftly  but  Wiley's 
face  was  grim. 


64  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"Yes,  him  find  anything!"  he  jeered.  "That  fat- 
headed  old  tub!  He  knows  about  as  much  about 
mining  as  a  hog  does  about  the  precession  of  the 
equinox.  No;  miracles  may  happen  but,  short  of 
that,  he'll  never  get  back  a  cent!" 

"No,  but  Wiley,"  she  protested,  "you  know  as 
well  as  I  do  that  the  Paymaster  isn't  worked  out. 
Now  what's  to  prevent  my  stock  becoming  valuable 
sometime  when  tAiey  open  it  up?" 

"What's  to  prevent?"  he  repeated.  "Well,  I'll 
tell  you  what.  If  Blount  makes  a  strike  he'll  close 
that  mine  down  and  send  the  company  through 
bankruptcy.  Then  he'll  buy  the  mine  back  on  a 
judgment  and  you'll  be  left  without  a  cent." 

"But  what  about  you?'  she  suggested  shrewdly. 
"Will  you  let  him  serve  you  like  that?" 

"Don't  you  think  it!"  he  answered.  "I  know 
him  too  well — my  money  is  somewhere  else." 

"But  if  you  should  buy  the  mine?" 

"Well "  he  stirred  uneasily  and  then  shot  his 

machine  ahead — "I  haven't  bought  it  yet." 

"No,  but  you  offered  to,  and  I  don't  see  why " 

"Do  you  want  to  sell  your  stock?"  he  asked 
abruptly  and  she  flushed  and  shook  her  head. 
"Well!"  he  said  and  without  further  comment  he 
slowed  down  and  swung  about. 

"Oh,  dear,"  she  sighed,  as  they  started  back  and 
he  turned  upon  her  swiftly. 

"Do  you  know  why  I  wouldn't  have  that  mine," 
he  inquired,  "if  you'd  hand  it  to  me  as  a  gift? 
It's  because  of  this  everlasting  fight.     I  own  it,  right 


BETWEEN  FRIENDS  65 

now,  if  anybody  does,  and  I've  never  been  down  the 
shaft.  Now  suppose  I'd  go  over  there  and  shoot 
it  out  with  George  and  get  possession  of  my  mine. 
First  Blount  would  come  up  with  some  other  hired 
man-killer  and  I'd  have  a  bout  with  him;  and  then 
your  respected  mother " 

"Now  you  hush  up!"  she  chided  and  he  closed 
down  his  jaw  like  a  steel-trap.  She  watched 
him  covertly,  then  her  eyes  began  to  blink  and  she 
turned  her  head  away.  The  desert  rushed  by  them, 
worlds  of  waxy  green  creosote  bushes  and  white, 
gnarly  clumps  of  salt  bush;  and  straight  ahead, 
frowning  down  on  the  forgotten  city,  rose  the  black 
cloud-shadow  of  Shadow  Mountain. 

"Oh,  turn  off  here!"  she  cried,  impulsively  as 
they  came  to  a  fork  in  the  road  and,  plowing  up 
the  sand,  he  skidded  around  a  curve  and  struck  off 
up  the  Death  Valley  road.  They  came  together  at 
the  edge  of  the  town — the  long,  straight  road  to 
the  south,  and  the  road-trail  that  led  west  into  the 
silence.  There  were  no  tracks  in  it  now  but  the 
flat  hoof-prints  of  burros  and  the  wire-twined 
wheel-marks  of  desert  buckboards;  even  the  road 
was  half  obliterated  by  the  swoop  of  the  winds  which 
had  torn  up  the  hard-packed  dirt,  yet  the  going 
was  good  and  as  the  racer  purred  on  Virginia  settled 
back  in  her  seat.  ,. 

"I  can't  believe  it,"  she  said  at  last,  "that  we're 
going  to  leave  here,  forever.  This  is  the  road  that 
Father  took  when  he  left  home  that  last  time — 
have  you  ever  been  over  into  Death  Valley?     It's 


66  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

a  great,  big  sink,  all  white  with  salt  and  borax; 
and  at  the  upper  end,  where  he  went  across,  there 
are  miles  and  miles  of  sand-hills.  He's  buried 
out  there  somewhere,  and  the  hills  have  covered 
him — but  oh,  it's  so  awful  lonesome!" 

She  turned  away  again  and  as  her  head  went  down 
Wiley  stared  straight  ahead  and  blinked.  He  had 
known  the  Colonel  and  loved  him  well,  and  his 
father  had  loved  him,  too;  but  that  rift  had  come 
between  them  and  until  it  was  healed  he  could  never 
be  a  friend  of  Virginia's.  She  distrusted  him  in 
everything — in  his  silence  and  in  his  speech,  his 
laughter  and  his  anger,  in  his  evasions  and  when 
he  talked  straight — it  was  better  to  say  nothing 
now.  He  had  intended  to  help  her,  to  offer  her 
money  or  any  assistance  he  could  give;  but  her 
heart  was  turned  against  him  and  the  most  he  could 
hope  for  was  to  get  back  to  Keno  without  a  quarrel. 
The  divide  was  far  ahead,  where  the  road  struck 
the  pass  and  swung  over  and  down  into  the  Great 
Valley;  and,  glancing  up  at  the  sun,  he  turned 
around  slowly  and  rumbled  back  into  town.  Shadow 
Mountain  rose  before  them;  it  towered  above  the 
valley  like  a  brooding  image  of  hate  but  as  he 
smiled  farewell  at  the  sad-eyed  Virginia  something 
moved  him  to  take  her  hand. 

"Good-by,"  he  said,  "you'll  be  gone  when  I 
come  back.  But  if  you  get  into  trouble — let  me 
know." 

He  gave  her  hand  a  squeeze  and  Virginia  looked 
at  him  sharply,  then  she  let  her  dark  lashes  droop. 


BETWEEN  FRIENDS  67 

"I'm  in  trouble  now,"  she  said  at  last.  "What 
good  did  it  do  to  tell  you?" 

He  winced  and  shrugged  his  shoulders,  then 
gazed  at  her  again  with  a  challenge  in  his  eyes. 

"  If  you'd  trust  me  more,"  he  said  very  slowly, 
"perhaps  I'd  trust  you  more.  What  is  it  you  want 
me  to  do?" 

"I  want  you  to  answer  me — yes  or  no.  Shall  I 
keep  my  stock,  or  sell  it?" 

"You  keep  it,"  he  answered,  and  avoided  her  eye 
until  she  climbed  out  and  entered  the  house. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
The  Tip 

WELL?"  inquired  the  Widow  as  her  daughter 
came  back  from  her  ride  with  Wiley 
Holman;  but  Virginia  was  not  giving 
out  confidences.  At  last,  and  by  a  trick,  she 
had  surprised  the  truth  from  Wiley  and  he  had 
told  her  to  keep  her  stock.  For  weeks,  for  months, 
he  had  told  her  and  everybody  else  that  the  Pay- 
master was  not  worth  having;  but  when  she  had 
drooped  her  lashes  and  asked  him  for  his  opinion 
he  had  told  her  not  to  sell.  Not  hesitatingly  nor 
doubtfully,  or  with  any  crafty  intent;  but  honestly, 
as  a  friend,  perhaps  as  a  lover — and  then  he  had 
looked  away.  He  knew,  of  course,  how  his  past 
actions  must  appear  in  the  light  of  this  later  advice; 
but  he  had  told  her  the  truth  and  gone.  The 
question  was:  What  should  she  do? 

Virginia  returned  to  her  room  and  locked  the 
door  while  her  mother  stormed  around  outside  and 
at  last  she  came  to  a  decision.  What  Wiley  had 
told  her  had  been  said  in  strictest  confidence  and 
it  would  not  be  fair  to  pass  it  on;  but  if  he  advised 
her  not  to  sell  he  had  a  reason  for  his  advice,  and 

68 


THE  TIP  69 

that  reason  was  not  far  to  find.  It  was  in  that 
white  stone  that  he  had  stolen  from  her  collection, 
and  in  the  white  quartz  he  had  gathered  from 
the  dump.  He  claimed,  of  course,  that  he  had  not 
had  her  specimen  assayed;  but  why,  then,  had  he 
come  back  for  more?  And  why  had  he  been  so 
careful  to  tell  her  and  everyone  that  he  would  not 
take  the  Paymaster  as  a  gift?  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
he  owned  it  that  minute  by  virtue  of  his  delinquent 
tax-sale,  and  his  goings  and  comings  had  been 
nicely  timed  to  enable  him  to  keep  track  of  his 
property.  He  was  shrewd,  that  was  all,  but  now 
she  could  read  him;  for  he  had  spoken,  for  once, 
from  his  heart. 

The  mail  that  night  bore  a  sample  of  white 
quartz  to  a  custom  assayer  in  Vegas,  but  Virginia 
guarded  her  secret  well.  She  had  gained  it  by 
wiles  that  were  not  absolutely  straight-forward,  in 
that  she  had  squeezed  Wiley's  hand  in  return, 
and  since  by  so  doing  she  had  compromised  with 
her  conscience  she  placated  it  by  withholding  the 
great  news.  If  she  told  her  mother  she  would 
create  a  scene  with  Blount  and  demand  the  return 
of  her  stock;  and  the  secret  would  get  out  and 
everybody  would  be  buying  stock  and  Wiley  would 
blame  it  on  her.  No,  everything  must  be  kept  dark 
and  she  mailed  her  sample  when  even  the  postmistress 
was  gone.  Perhaps  Wiley  was  right  in  his  extreme 
subterfuges  and  in  always  covering  up  his  hand, 
but  she  would  show  him  that  there  were  others  just 
as  smart.     She  would  take  a  leaf  from  his  book  and 


7o  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

play  a  lone  hand,  too;  only  now,  of  course,  she  could 
not  leave  town. 

"Virginia!"  scolded  the  Widow,  when  for  the 
hundredth  time  she  had  discovered  her  dawdling 
at  her  packing.  "If  you  don't  get  up  and  come  and 
help  me  this  minute  I'll  unpack  and  let  you  go  alone." 

"Well,  let's  both  unpack,"  said  Virginia  thought- 
fully, and  the  Widow  sat  down  with  a  crash. 

"I  knew  it!'  she  cried.  "Ever  since  that  Wiley 
Holman " 

"Now,  you  hush  up!"  returned  Virginia,  flushing 
angrily.  "You  don't  know  what  you're  talking 
about!" 

"Well,  if  I  don't  know  I  can  guess;  but  I  never 
thought  a  HufF " 

"Oh,  you  make  me  tired!'  exclaimed  Virginia, 
spitefully.     "I'm  staying  here  to  watch  that  mine." 

"That — mine!"  The  Widow  repeated  it  slowly 
and  her  eyes  opened  up  big  with  triumph.  "Vir- 
ginia, do  you  mean  to  say  you  got  the  best  of  that 
whipper-snapper  and " 

"No,  nothing  of  the  kind!  No!  Can't  you 
hear  me  ?     Oh,  Mother,  you'd  drive  a  person  crazy ! ' 

"I — see!'  observed  the  Widow  and  stood  nod- 
ding her  head  as  Virginia  went  on  with  her  pro- 
tests. "Oh,  my  Lord!"  she  burst  out,  "and  I 
put  up  all  my  stock  for  a  measly  eight  hundred 
dollars!  That  scoundrelly  Blount — I  saw  it  in 
his  eye  the  minute  I  mentioned  my  stock!  He's 
tricked  me,  the  rascal;  but  I'll  fool  him  yet — I'll 
pay  him  back  and  get  my  stock!" 


)9 


THE  TIP  71 

"You'll  pay  him  back?  Why,  you've  spent  half 
the  money  to  redeem  your  jewels  and  the  diamonds! ' 

"Well,  I'll  pawn  them  again.  Oh,  it  makes  me 
wild  to  think  how  that  rascal  has  tricked  me!" 

"But,  Mother,"  protested  Virginia,  "he  hasn't 
done  any  work  yet.  They  haven't  made  any  strike 
at  the  mine.  Why  not  let  it  go  until  they  pump 
out  the  water  and  really  find  some  ore?  And  be- 
sides, how  could  Wiley  know  anything  about  it? 
He's  never  been  down  the  shaft.3 

"  But — why  you  told  me  yourself- 

"I  never  told  you  anything!'  burst  out  Virginia 
tearfully.  "You  just  jump  at  everything  like  a 
flea.  And  now  you'll  tell  everybody,  and  Wiley'll 
say  I  did  it,  and " 

"Virginia  Huff!"  cried  her  mother,  dramatically, 
"  are  you  in  love  with  that — thief?' 

"He  is  not!  No,  I  am  not!  Oh,  I  wish  you'd 
quit  talking  to  me — I  tell  you  he  never  told  me 
anything\" 

"Well,  for  goodness  sake!"  exclaimed  the  Widow 
pityingly,  and  stalked  off  to  think  it  over. 

"You,  Charley!"  she  exclaimed  as  she  found 
Death  Valley  on  the  gallery  pretending  to  nail  up 
a  box,  "you  leave  those  things  alone.  Well,  that's 
all  right;  we've  changed  our  minds  and  now  we're 
going  to  stay." 

"That's  good,"  replied  Charley,  laying  his  ham- 
mer aside,  "I've  been  telling  'em  so  for  days.  It's 
coming  everywhere;  all  the  old  camps  are  opening 
up,  but  Keno  will  beat  them  all." 


72  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"Yes,  that's  right,"  assented  the  Widow  ab- 
sently, and  as  she  bustled  away  to  begin  her  un- 
packing, Death  Valley  looked  at  Heine  and 
leered. 

"Didn't  I  tell  you!"  he  crowed  and,  scuttling 
back  to  get  his  six-shooter,  he  went  out  and  began 
re-locating  claims.  That  was  the  beginning.  The 
real  rush  came  later  when  the  pumps  began  to  throb 
in  the  Paymaster.  A  stream  of  water  like  a  sheet 
of  silver  flowed  down  the  side  of  the  dump  and 
as  if  it's  touch  had  brought  forth  men  from  the 
desert  sands,  the  old-timers  came  drifting  in.  Once 
more  the  vacant  sidewalks  resounded  to  the  thud 
of  sturdy  hob-nailed  boots;  and  along  with  the 
locaters  came  pumpmen  and  miners  to  sound  the 
flooded  depths  of  the  Paymaster. 

It  was  a  great  mine,  a  famous  mine,  the  richest 
in  all  the  West;  within  twenty  months  it  had 
produced  twelve  million  dollars  and  the  lower 
levels  had  never  been  touched.  But  what  was 
twelve  million  to  what  it  would  turn  out  when  they 
located  the  hidden  ore-body?  On  its  record  alone 
the  Paymaster  was  a  world-beater,  but  the  ground 
had  barely  been  scratched.  Even  Samuel  Blount, 
who  was  cold  as  a  stone  and  had  sold  out  the  entire 
town,  even  he  had  caught  the  contagion;  and  he  was 
talking  large  on  the  bank  corner  when  Holman 
came  back  through  town. 

Wiley  drove  in  from  the  north,  his  face  burned 
by  sun  and  wind  and  his  machine  weighed  down 
with  sacks  of  samples,  but  when  he  saw  the  crowd^ 


THE  TIP  73 

and  Blount  in  the  middle  of  it,  he  threw  on  his 
brakes  with  a  jerk. 

"Hello!"  he  hailed.  "What's  all  the  excitement? 
Has  the  Paymaster  made  a  strike?" 

All  eyes  turned  to  Blount,  who  stepped  down 
ponderously  and  waddled  out  to  the  auto.  He  was 
a  very  heavy  man,  with  his  mouth  on  one  side  and 
a  mild,  deceiving  smile;  and  as  he  shook  hands 
perfunctorily  he  glanced  uneasily  at  Wiley,  for 
he  had  heard  about  the  tax-sale. 

"Why,  no,"  he  replied,  "no  strike  as  yet.  How's 
everything  with  you,  Mr.  Holman?" 

"Fine  and  dandy,  I  guess,"  returned  Wiley 
civilly.     "Where  did  all  these  men  jump  up  from?' 

"Oh,  they  just  dropped  in,  or  stopped  over  in 
passing.        Do    you     still     take     an     interest     in 


mine 


?" 


Well,  yes,"  responded  Wiley.  "I'm  a  mining 
engineer,  and  so  naturally  I  do  take  quite  an  in- 
terest. And  by  the  way,  Mr.  Blount,  did  it  ever 
occur  to  you  that  the  Paymaster  has  been  sold 
for  taxes?  Oh,  that's  all  right,  that's  all  right; 
I  didn't  know  whether  you'd  heard  about  it — do 
you  recognize  my  title  to  the  mine?" 

"Well,"  began  Blount,  and  then  he  smiled  ap- 
peasingly,  "I  didn't  just  know  where  to  reach  you. 
Of  course,  according  to  law,  you  do  hold  the  title; 
but  I  suppose  you  know  that  the  stockholders  of 
the  company  have  five  years  in  which  to  buy  back 
the  mine.  Yes,  that  is  the  law;  but  I  thought  under 
the  circumstances — the  mine  lying  idle  and  all — 


74  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

you  might  be  willing  to  waive  your  strict  rights  in 
the  interests  of,  well,  harmony." 

"I  get  you,'5  answered  Wiley,  glancing  at  the 
staring  onlookers,  "and  of  course  these  gentlemen 
are  our  witnesses.  You  acknowledge  my  title,  and 
that  every  bit  of  your  work  is  being  done  on  an- 
other man's  ground;  but,  of  course,  if  you  make  a 
strike  I  won't  put  any  obstacles  in  your  way.  I'm 
for  harmony,  Mr.  Blount,  as  big  as  a  wolf;  but 
there's  one  thing  I  want  to  ask  you.  Did  you  or 
did  you  not  employ  this  Stiff  Neck  George  to  act 
as  guard  on  the  mine?  Because  two  months  ago, 
after  I'd  bought  in  the  Paymaster  for  taxes,  I  went 
over  to  inspect  the  ground  and  Stiff  Neck 
George 

"Oh,  no!  Oh  dear,  no!"  protested  Blount  vig- 
orously. "He  was  acting  for  himself.  I  heard  about 
his  actions,  but  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  them — 
I  never  even  knew  about  it  till  lately." 

"But  was  he  in  your  employ  at  the  time  of  the 
shooting,  and  did  you  tell  him  to  drive  off  all  comers? 
Because " 

"No!  My  dear  boy,  of  course  not!  But  come 
over  to  my  office;   I  want  to  talk  with  you,  Wiley." 

The  banker  beamed  upon  him  affectionately 
and,  shaking  out  a  white  handkerchief,  wiped  the 
sudden  sweat  from  his  brow;  and  then  Wiley  leapt 
to  the  ground. 

"All  right,"  he  said,  "but  let's  go  and  see  the 
mine  first." 

He  strapped  on  his  pistol  and  waited  expectantly 


THE  TIP  75 

and  at  last  Blount  breathed  heavily  and  assented. 
Nothing  more  was  said  as  they  went  across  the 
flat  and  toiled  up  the  trail  to  the  mine.  Wiley 
walked  behind  and  as  they  mounted  to  the  shaft- 
house  his  eyes  wandered  restlessly  about;  until, 
at  the  tool-shed,  they  suddenly  focussed  and  a 
half-crouching  man  stepped  out.  He  was  tall  and 
gnarly  and  the  point  of  his  chin  rested  stiffly  on  the 
the  slope  of  his  shoulder.  It  was  Stiff  Neck  George 
and  he  kept  a  crook  in  his  elbow  as  he  glanced 
from  Blount  to  Wiley. 

"How's  this?'  demanded  Wiley,  putting  Blount 
between  him  and  George,  "what's  this  man  doing 
up  here?" 

"Why,  that's  George,"  faltered  Blount,  "George 
Norcross,  you  know.  He  works  for  me  around 
the  mine." 

"Oh,  he  does,  eh?"  observed  Wiley,  in  the  cold 
tones  of  an  examining  lawyer.  "How  long  has  he 
been  in  your  employ?" 

"Oh,  since  we  opened  up — that's  all — just  tem- 
porarily. This  gentleman  is  all  right,  George; 
you  can  go." 

Stiff  Neck  George  stood  silent,  his  sunken  eyes 
on  Wiley,  his  sunburned  lips  parted  in  a  grin, 
and  then  he  turned  and  spat. 

"Eh,  heh;  hiding!"  he  chuckled  and,  stung  by 
the  taunt,  Wiley  stepped  out  into  the  open.  His 
gun  was  pulled  forward,  his  jaws  set  hard,  and  he 
looked  the  hired  man-killer  in  the  eye. 

"Don't  you  think  it,"  he  said,  "I  know  you  too 


76  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

well.  You're  afraid  to  fight  in  the  day-time;  you 
dirty,  sneaking  murderer !" 

He  waited,  poised,  but  George  only  laughed 
silently,  though  his  poisonous  eyes  began  to  gleam. 

"What  are  you  doing  on  my  ground?"  demanded 
Wiley,  advancing  threateningly  with  his  pistol  raised. 
"  Don't  you  know  I  own  this  mine?" 

"No,"  snarled  Stiff  Neck  George,  coming  sud- 
denly to  a  crouch,  "and,  furthermore,  I  don't  give 
a  damn!" 

"Now,  now,  George,"  broke  in  Blount,  "let's 
not  have  any  words.  Mr.  Holman  holds  the  title 
to  this  claim." 

" Heh — Holman ! "  mocked  George,  "Honest  John's 
boy — eh?"  He  laughed  insultingly  and  spat  against 
the  wind  and  Wiley's  lip  curled  up  scornfully. 

"Yes — Honest  John,"  he  repeated  evenly.  "And 
it's  a  wonder  to  me  you  don't  take  a  few  lessons 
and  learn  to  spit  clear  of  your  chin." 

"You  shut  up!"  snapped  George  as  venomous 
as  a  rattlesnake.  "  Your  damned  old  father  was  a 
thief!" 

"You're  a  liar!':  yelled  Wiley  and,  swinging  his 
pistol  like  a  club,  he  made  a  rush  at  the  startled 
gunman.  His  eyes  were  flashing  with  a  wild, 
reckless  fury  and  as  Stiff*  Neck  George  dodged  and 
broke  to  run  he  leapt  in  and  placed  a  fierce  kick. 
"Now  you  git,  you  old  dastard!"  he  shouted  hoarsely 
and  as  George  went  down  he  grabbed  him  by  the 
trousers  and  sent  him  sprawling  down  the  dump. 
Sand,  rocks  and  waste  went  avalanching  after  him, 


THE  TIP  77 

and  a  loose  boulder  thundered  in  his  wake,  until, 
at  the  bottom  George  scrambled  to  his  feet  and 
stood  motionless,  looking  back.  His  head  sank 
lower  as  he  saw  Wiley  watching  him  and  he  slunk 
down  closer  to  the  ground,  then  with  the  swiftness 
of  a  panther  that  has  marked  down  its  prey  he 
turned  and  skulked  away. 

"That's  bad  business,  Wiley,"  protested  Blount 
half-heartedly  and  Wiley  nodded  assent. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "he's  dangerous  now.  I  should 
have  killed  the  dastard." 


/ 


CHAPTER  IX 
A  Peace  Talk 

WHILE  his  blood  was  pounding  and  his  heart 
was  high,  Wiley  Holman  went  down  into 
his  mine.  He  rode  down  on  the  bucket, 
deftly  balanced  on  the  rim  and  fending  off  the 
wall  with  one  hand,  and  when  he  came  up  he  was 
smiling.  Not  smiling  with  his  lips,  but  far  back 
in  his  eyes,  like  a  man  who  has  found  something 
good.  Perhaps  Blount  surprised  the  look  before 
it  had  fled  for  he  beamed  upon  Wiley  benevolently. 

"Well,  Wiley,  my  boy,"  he  began  confidentially 
as  he  drew  him  off  to  one  side,  "I'm  glad  to  see 
you're  pleased.  The  gold  is  there — I  find  that 
everyone  thinks  so — all  we  need  now  is  a  little 
co-operation.  That's  all  we  need  now — peace.  We 
should  lay  aside  all  personal  feelings  and  old  ani- 
mosities and  join  hands  to  make  the  Paymaster  a 
success." 

"That's  right,  that's  right,"  agreed  Wile}''  cheer- 
fully, "there's  nobody  believes  in  peace  more  than 
I  do.  But  all  the  same,"  he  went  on  almost  sav- 
agely, "you've  got  to  get  rid  of  old  George.  I'm 
for  peace,  you  understand,  but  if  I  find  him  here 
again — well,  I'll  have  to  take  over  the  property. 
He's  nothing  but  a  professional  murderer." 

78 


A  PEACE  TALK  79 

"Yes,  I  know,"  explained  Blount,  "he's  a  dan- 
gerous man — but  I  don't  like  to  let  an  old  man 
starve.  He's  got  a  right  to  live  the  same  as  any 
of  us,  and,  since  he  can't  work — well,  I  gave  him 
a  job  as  watchman." 

"Well,  all  right,"  grumbled  Wiley,  "if  you  want 
to  be  charitable;  but  I  suppose  you  know  that, 
under  the  law,  you're  responsible  for  the  acts  of 
your  agents?" 

"That's  all  right,  that's  all  right,"  burst  out 
Blount  impatiently,  "I'll  never  hire  him  again.  He 
refused  to  obey  my  orders  and " 

"And  he  tried  to  kill  me!"  broke  in  Wiley  angrily, 
but  Blount  had  thrown  up  both  hands. 

"Oh,  now,,  Wiley,"  he  protested,  "why  can't 
we  be  reasonable?  Why  can't  we  get  together  on 
this?" 

"We  can,"  returned  Wiley,  "but  you've  got  to 
show  me  that  you're  not  trying  to  jump  my  claim." 

"Oh,  you  know,"  exclaimed  Blount,  "as  well  as 
I  do  that  a  tax  sale  is  never  binding.  The  owners 
of  the  property  are  given  five  years'  time '' 

"It  is  binding,"  corrected  Wiley,  "until  the  prop- 
erty is  bought  back — and  I  happen  to  be  holding 
the  deed.  Now,  here's  the  point — what  authority 
have  you  got  for  coming  in  here  and  working  this 
property?" 

"Well,  you  may  as  well  know,"  replied  Blount 
shortly,  "that  I  own  a  majority  of  the  stock." 

"Aha!"  burst  out  Wiley.  "I  was  listening  for 
that.     So  you're  the  Honest  John?" 


80  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"What  do  you  mean?'  demanded  Blount  and, 
seeing  the  anger  in  his  eyes,  he  hastened  to  head  off 
the  storm.  "No,  now  listen  to  me,  Wiley;  it's 
not  the  way  you  think.  I  knew  your  father  welh 
and  I  always  found  him  the  soul  of  honor;  but  I 
never  liked  to  say  anything,  because  Colonel  Huff 
was  my  partner,  too.  So,  when  this  trouble  arose, 
I  tried  to  remain  neutral,  without  joining  sides 
with  either.  It  pained  me  very  much  to  have  people 
make  remarks  reflecting  upon  the  honesty  of  your 
father,  but  as  the  confidant  of  both  it  was  hardly 
in  good  taste  for  me  to  give  out  what  I  knew. 
So  I  let  the  matter  go,  hoping  that  time  would 
heal  the  breach;  but  now  that  the  Colonel  is 
dead " 

"Aha!"  breathed  Wiley  and  Blount  nodded  his 
head  lugubriously. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "that  is  the  way  it  was.  Your 
father  was  absolutely  honest." 

"Well,  but  who  sold  the  stock,  and  then  bought 
it  back — and  put  all  the  blame  on  my  father?' 

"I  can't  tell  you,"  answered  Blount.  "I  never 
speak  evil  of  the  dead — but  the  Colonel  was  a  very 
poor  business  man." 

"Yes,  he  was,"  agreed  Wiley,  and  then,  after  a 
silence:  "How  did  it  happen  that  you  got  all 
his  stock?" 

"Well,  on  mortgages  and  notes;  and  now  as  col- 
lateral on  a  loan  that  I  made  his  widow.  I  own 
a  clean  majority  of  the  stock." 

"Oh,  you  do,  eh?"  observed  Wiley  and  rubbed 


A  PEACE  TALK  8x 

his  jaw  thoughtfully  while  Blount  looked  mildly 
on.     "Well,  what  are  you  going  to  do?" 

"Why,  I'd  like  to  buy  back  that  tax  deed," 
answered  Blount  amiably,  "and  get  control  of  my 
property." 

"Oh,"  said  Wiley,  and  looked  down  the  valley 
with  eyes  that  squinted  shrewdly  at  the  sun.  "All 
right,"  he  agreed,  "just  to  show  you  that  I'm  a 
sport,  I'll  give  you  a  quit-claim  deed  right  now  for 
the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars." 

"You  will?"  challenged  Blount,  reaching  tremu- 
lously for  his  fountain  pen  and  then  he  paused  at 
a  thought.  "Very  well,"  he  said,  but  as  he  filled 
out  the  form  he  stopped  and  gazed  uneasily  at  Wiley. 
Here  was  a  mining  engineer  selling  a  possessory 
right  to  the  Paymaster  for  the  sum  of  one  hundred 
dollars;  while  he,  a  banker,  was  spending  a  hundred 
dollars  a  day  in  what  had  proved  so  far  to  be  dead 
work.  "Er — I  haven't  any  money  with  me,"  he 
suggested  at  length.  "  Perhaps — well,  perhaps  you 
could  wait?" 

"Sure!"  replied  Wiley,  rising  up  from  where  he 
was  seated,  "I'll  wait  for  anything,  except  my 
supper.  Where's  the  best  place  to  eat  in  town, 
now?" 

"Why,  at  Mrs.  Huff's"  returned  Blount  in 
surprise.  "But  about  this  quit-claim,  perhaps  a 
check  would  do  as  well?" 

"What,  are  the  Huffs  still  here?"  exclaimed 
Wiley,  starting  off.     "Why,  I  thought " 

"No,  they  decided  to  stay,"  answered   Blount> 


82  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

following  after  him.  "But  now,  Wiley,  about  this 
quit-claim?" 

"Well,  gimme  your  check!  Or  keep  it,  I  don't 
care — I  came  away  without  my  breakfast  this 
morning.,, 

He  strode  off  down  the  trail  and  Blount  pulled 
up  short  and  stood  gazing  after  him  blankly,  then 
he  shouted  to  him  frantically  and  hurried  down  the 
slope  to  where  Wiley  was  waiting  impatiently. 

"Here,  just  sign  this,"  he  panted.  "I'll  write 
you  out  a  check.  But  what's  the  matter,  Wiley — 
didn't  the  mine  show  up  as  expected?' 

Wiley  muttered  unintelligibly  as  he  signed  the 
quit-claim  which  he  retained  until  he  had  looked 
over  the  check.  Then  he  folded  up  the  check  and 
kissed  it  surreptitiously  before  he  stored  it  away 
in  his  pocketbook. 

"Why,  yes,"  he  said,  "it  shows  up  fine.  I'll 
see  you  later,  down  at  the  house." 

Blount  sat  down  suddenly,  but  as  Wiley  clattered 
off  he  shouted  a  warning  after  him. 

"Oh,  Wiley,  please  don't  mention  that  matter  I 
spoke  of!" 

"What  matter?"  yelled  back  Wiley  and  at  another 
disquieting  thought  Blount  jumped  up  and  came 
galloping  after  him. 

"The  matter  of  the  Colonel,"  he  panted  in  his 
ear,  "and  here's  another  thing,  Wiley.  You  know 
Mrs.  Huff — she's  absolutely  impossible  and — well, 
she's  been  making  me  quite  a  little  trouble.  Now 
as  a  personal  favor,  please  don't  lend  her  any  money 


A  PEACE  TALK  83 

or  help  her  to  get  back  her  stock;  because  if  you 
do " 

"I  won't!"  promised  Wiley,  holding  up  his  right 
hand.     "But  say,  don't  stop  me — I'm  starving." 

He  ran  down  the  trail,  limping  slightly  on  his 
game  leg,  and  Blount  sat  down  on  a  rock. 

"Well,  I'll  be  bound!"  he  puffed  and  gazed  at 
the  quit-claim  ruefully. 

The  tables  were  all  set  when  Wiley  re-entered 
the  dining-room  from  which  he  had  retreated  once 
before  in  such  haste,  and  Virginia  was  there  and 
waiting,  though  her  smile  was  a  trifle  uncertain. 
A  great  deal  of  water  had  flowed  down  the  gulch 
since  he  had  advised  her  to  keep  her  stock,  but  the 
assayer  at  Vegas  was  worse  than  negligent — he 
had  not  reported  on  the  piece  of  white  rock.  There- 
fore she  hardly  knew,  being  still  in  the  dark  as  to 
his  motives  in  giving  the  advice,  whether  to  greet 
Wiley  as  her  savior  or  to  receive  him  coldly,  as  a 
Judas.  If  the  white  quartz  was  full  of  gold  that 
her  father  had  overlooked — say  fine  gold,  that 
would  not  show  in  the  pan — then  Wiley  was  in- 
deed her  friend;  but  if  the  quartz  was  barren  and 
he  had  purposely  deceived  her  in  order  to  boom 
his  own  mine — she  smiled  with  her  lips  and  asked 
him  rather  faintly  if  he  wanted  his  supper  at  once. 

But  if  Virginia  was  still  a  Huff,  remembering 
past  treacheries  and  living  in  the  expectancy  of 
more,  the  Widow  cast  aside  all  petty  heart-burnings 
in  her  joy  at  the  humiliation  of  Stiff  Neck  George. 
Leaving   Virginia   in   the   kitchen,   to   fry     Viley's 


84  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

steak,  she  rushed  into  the  dining-room  with  her 
eyes  ablaze  and  all  but  shook  his  hand. 

"Well,  well,"  she  exulted,  'Til  have  to  take 
it  back — you  certainly  did  boot  him  good.  I  said 
you  were  a  coward  but  I  was  watching  you  through 
my  spy-glass  and  I  nearly  died  a-laughing.  You 
just  walked  right  up  to  him — and  you  were  cursing 
him  scandalous,  I  could  tell  by  the  look  on  your 
face — and  then  all  at  once  you  made  a  jump  and 
gave  him  that  awful  kick.  Oh,  ho,  ho;  you  know 
IVe  always  said  he  looked  like  a  man  that  was 
watching  for  a  swift  kick  from  behind;  and  now — 
after  waiting  all  these  years — oh,  ho  ho — you  gave 
him  what  was  coming  to  him!,, 

The  Widow  sat  down  and  held  her  sides  with 
laughter  and  Wiley's  grim  features,  that  had  remained 
set  and  watchful,  slowly  relaxed  to  a  flattered 
grin.  He  had  indeed  stood  up  to  Stiff  Neck  George 
and  booted  him  down  the  dump,  so  that  the  score 
of  that  night  when  he  had  been  hunted  like  a  rab- 
bit was  more  than  evened  up;  for  George  had  sneaked 
up  on  an  unarmed  man  and  rolled  down  boulders 
from  above,  but  he  had  outfaced  him,  man  to  man 
and  gun  to  gun,  and  kicked  him  down  the  dump 
to  boot.  Yes,  the  Widow  might  well  laugh,  for  it 
would  be  many  a  long  day  before  Stiff  Neck  George 
heard  the  last  of  that  affair. 

"And  old  Blount/'  laughed  the  Widow,  "he  was 
right  there  and  saw  it — his  own  hired  bully,  and 
all.  Say,  now  Wiley,  tell  me  all  about  it — what 
did  Blount  have  to  say?     Did  he  tell  you  it  was 


A  PEACE  TALK  8s 

all  a  mistake?  Yes,  that's  what  he  tells  every* 
body,  every  time  he  gets  into  trouble;  but  he  can?t 
make  excuses  to  me.  Do  you  know  what  he's  done? 
He's  tied  up  all  my  stock  as  security  for  eight 
hundred  dollars!  What's  eight  hundred  dollars — ■ 
I  turned  it  all  in  to  get  the  best  of  my  diamonds 
out  of  pawn.  It  made  me  feel  so  bad,  seeing  that 
diamond  ring  of  yours;  I  just  couldn't  help  getting 
them  out.  And  now  I'm  flat  and  he's  holding 
all  my  stock  for  a  miserable  little  eight  hundred 
dollars!" 

She  ended  up  strong,  but  Wiley  sensed  a  touch 
and  his  expressions  of  sympathy  were  guarded. 

"Now,  you're  a  business  man,"  she  went  on 
unheedingly.  "I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do — you  lend 
me  the  money  to  get  back  that  stock  and  I'll  sell 
it  all  to  your  father!" 

"To  my  father!"  echoed  Wiley  and  then  his 
face  turned  grim  and  he  laughed  at  some  hidden 
joke.  "Not  much,"  he  said,  "I  like  the  Old 
Man  too  much.  You'd  better  sell  it  back  to 
Blount." 

"To  Blount?  Why,  hasn't  your  father  been 
hounding  me  for  months  to  get  his  hands  on  that 
stock?  Well,  I'd  like  to  know  then  what  you  think 
you're  doing?  Have  you  gone  back  on  your  prom- 
ise, or  what?" 

"I  never  made  any  promise,"  returned  Wiley 
pacifically.  "It  was  my  father  that  made  the 
offer." 

"Oh,  fiddlesticks!"  exploded  the  Widow.    "Well, 


$6  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN' 

what's   the    difference — you're   working   hand    and 
glove!" 

"Not   at   all,"   corrected   Wiley,    "the  Old   Man 
is  raising  cattle.     You  can't  get  him  to  look  at  a 


mine. 


"Well,  he  offered  to  buy  my  stock!'  exclaimed 
the  Widow,  badly  flustered.  "I'd  like  to  know 
what  this  means?" 

"It's  no  use  talking,"  returned  Wiley  wearily, 
"I've  told  you  a  thousand  times.  If  you  send 
your  stock  to  John  Holman  at  Vegas,  he'll  give 
you   ten    cents  a  share;    but    /  won't  give  you  a 


cent. 


"Do  you  mean  to  say,"  demanded  the  Widow 
incredulously,  "that  you  don't  want  that  stock?' 

"That's  it,"  assented  Wiley.  "I've  just  sold  my 
tax  title  for  a  hundred  dollars,  to  Blount." 

"Oh,  this  will  drive  me  mad!'  cried  the  Widow 
in  a  frenzy.     "Virginia,  come  in  here  and  help  me!' 

Virginia  came  in  with  the  steak  slightly  scorched 
and  laid  his  dinner  before  Wiley.  Her  eyes  were 
rather  wild,  for  she  had  been  listening  through  the 
doorway,  but  she  turned  to  her  mother  inquiringly. 

"He  says  he's  sold  .his  tax  claim,"  wailed  the 
Widow  in  despair,  "for  one  hundred  dollars — to 
Blount.  And  then  he  turns  around  and  says  his 
father  will  buy  my  stock  for  ten  cents  a  share  in 
cash.  But  he  won't  lend  me  the  money  to  pay 
my  note  to  Blount  and  get  my  Paymaster  stock 
back." 

"That's   right,"   nodded   Wiley,    "you've   got   it 


'A  PEACE  TALK  87 

all   straight.     Now   let's    quit    before   we   get   into 


a  row/5 


He  bent  over  the  steak  and,  after  a  meaning 
look  at  Virginia,  the  Widow  discreetly  withdrew. 

"We  saw  you  fighting  George,',  ventured  Virginia 
at  last  as  he  seemed  almost  to  ignore  her  presence. 
"Weren't  you  afraid  he'd  get  mad  and  shoot  you?" 

"Uh,  huh,"  he  grunted,  "wasn't  I  hiding  behind 
Blount?  No,  I  had  him  whipped  from  the  start. 
Bad  conscience,  I  reckon;  these  crooks  are  all 
the  same — they're  afraid  to  fight  in  the  open." 

"But  your  conscience  is  all  right,  eh?"  suggested 
Virginia  sarcastically,  and  he  glanced  up  from 
under  his  brows. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "we've  got  'em  there,  Virginia. 
Are  you  still  holding  onto  that  stock?" 

A  swift  flood  of  shame  mantled  Virginia's  brow 
and  then  her  dark  eyes  flashed  fire. 

"Yes,  I've  got  it,"  she  said,  "but  what's  the 
answer  when  you  sell  out  your  tax  claim  to  Blount  ? " 

"I  wonder,"  he  observed  and  went  on  with 
his  eating  while  she  paced  restlessly  to  and  fro. 

"You  told  me  to  hold  it, "  she  burst  out  accusingly, 
"and  then  you  turn  around  and  sell!  " 

"Well,  why  don't  you  sell?"  he  suggested  inno- 
cently, and  she  paused  and  bit  her  lip.  Yes,  why 
not?  Why,  because  there  were  no  buyers — except 
Wiley  Holman  and  his  father!  The  knowledge  of 
her  impotence  almost  drove  her  on  to  further  mad- 
ness, but  another  voice  bade  her  beware.  He  had 
given  her  his  advice,  which  was  not  to  sell,  and — oh, 


88  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

that  accursed  assayer!  If  she  had  his  report  she 
could  flaunt  it  in  his  face  or — she  caught  her  breath 
and  smiled. 

"No,"  she  said,  "you  told  me  not  to!" 
And  Wiley  smiled  back  and  patted  her  hand. 


CHAPTER  X 
The  Best  Head  in  Town 

WHAT  was  Wiley  Holman  up  to?  Virginia 
paced  the  floor  in  a  very  unloverlike 
mood;  and  at  last  she  sat  down  and 
wrote  a  scathing  letter  to  the  assayer,  demanding 
her  assay  at  once.  She  also  enclosed  one  dollar 
in  advance  to  test  the  sample  for  gold  and  silver 
and  then,  as  an  afterthought,  she  enclosed  another 
bill  and  told  him  to  test  it  for  copper,  lead,  and 
zinc.  There  was  something  in  that  rock — she  knew 
it  just  as  well  as  she  knew  that  Wiley  was  in  love 
with  her,  and  this  was  no  time  to  pinch  dollars. 
For  ten  years  and  more  they  had  stuck  there  in 
Keno,  waiting  and  waiting  for  something  to  happen, 
but  now  things  had  come  to  such  a  pass  that  it 
was  better  to  know  even  the  worst.  For  if  the 
mine  was  barren  and  Wiley,  after  all,  was  only 
trying  in  his  dumb  way  to  help,  then  she  must 
pocket  her  pride  and  sell  him  her  stock  and  go  away 
and  hide  her  head.  But  if  the  white  quartz  was 
rich — well,  that  would  be  different;  there  would 
be  several  things  to  explain. 

Yet,  if  the  quartz  was  barren,  why  did  Wiley 
offer  to  buy  her  stock,  and  if  it  was  rich,  why  did 

89 


90  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

he  sell  his  tax  deed?  And  if  his  father  stood  ready- 
to  pay  ten  cents  a  share  for  two  hundred  thousand 
shares  of  stock  why  did  Wiley  refuse  to  redeem 
her  mother's  holdings  for  a  petty  eight  hundred 
dollars?  He  must  have  the  money,  for  his  dia- 
mond ring  alone  was  worth  well  over  a  thousand 
dollars;  and  he  had  tried  repeatedly  to  get  pos- 
session of  this  same  stock  which  he  now  refused  to 
accept  as  a  gift.  Virginia  thought  it  over  until 
her  head  was  in  a  whirl  and  at  last  she  stamped 
her  foot.  The  assay  would  tell,  and  if  he  had  been 
trying  to  cheat  her — she  drew  her  lips  to  a  thin, 
hard  line  and  looked  more  than  ever  like  her  mother. 

The  work  at  the  Paymaster  went  on  intermittently, 
but  Blount's  early  zest  was  lacking.  For  eight, 
yes,  ten  years  he  had  waited  patiently  for  the 
moment  when  he  should  get  control  of  the  mine; 
but  now  that  he  held  it,  without  let  or  hindrance, 
somehow  his  enthusiasm  flagged.  Perhaps  it  was 
the  fact  that  the  timbering  was  expensive  and  that 
his  gropings  for  the  lost  ore  body  came  to  nothing; 
but  in  the  back  of  his  mind  Blount's  growing  dis- 
trust dated  from  the  day  he  had  bought  Wiley's 
quit-claim.  Wiley  had  come  to  the  mine  full  of 
fury  and  aggressiveness,  as  his  combat  with  Stiff 
Neck  George  clearly  showed;  but  after  he  had  gone 
down  and  inspected  the  workings  he  had  sold  out 
for  one  hundred  dollars.  And  W7iley  Holman  was 
a  mining  engineer,  with  a  name  for  Yankee  shrewd- 
ness— he  must  have  had  a  reason. 

Blount  recalled   his  men  from  the  drifts  where 


THE  BEST  HEAD  IN  TOWN  91 

they  had  been  working  and  set  them  to  crosscutting 
for  the  vein.  It  was  too  expensive,  restoring  all 
the  square-sets  and  clearing  out  the  fallen  rock; 
and  he  had  learned  to  his  sorrow  that  Colonel 
Huff  had  blown  up  every  heading  with  dynamite. 
In  that  tangle  of  shattered  timbers  and  caved-in 
walls  the  miners  made  practically  no  progress,  for 
the  ground  was  treacherous  and  ten  years  under 
water  had  left  the  wood  soft  and  slippery.  To  be 
sure  the  hidden  chute  lay  at  the  breast  of  some 
such  drift;  but  to  clear  them  all  out,  with  his 
limited  equipment  and  no  regular  engineer  in  charge, 
would  run  up  a  staggering  account.  So  Blount 
began  to  crosscut,  and  to  sink  along  the  contact, 
but  chiefly  to  cut  down  expenses. 

With  the  railroad  that  had  tapped  the  camp  torn 
up  and  hauled  away,  every  foot  of  timber,  every 
stick  of  powder,  cost  twice  as  much  as  it  ought. 
And  then  there  was  machinery,  and  gas  and  oil 
for  the  engine,  and  valves  and  spare  parts  for  the 
pumps,  and  the  board  of  the  men,  and  overhead 
expenses — and  not  a  single  dollar  coming  in.  Blount 
sat  up  late  in  his  office,  adding  total  to  total,  and 
at  the  end  he  leaned  back  aghast.  At  the  very 
inside  it  was  costing  him  two  hundred  dollars  for 
every  day  that  he  operated  the  mine.  And  what 
was  it  turning  back?  Nothing.  The  mine  had 
been  gutted  of  every  pound  of  ore  that  it  would 
pay  to  sack  and  ship,  and  unless  something  was 
done  to  locate  the  lost  ore  body  and  give  some 
guarantee   of  future   values,   well,    the   Paymaster 


92  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

would  have  to  shut  down.  Blount  considered  it 
soberly,  as  a  business  man  should,  and  then  he 
sent  for  Wiley  Holman. 

There  were  others,  of  course,  to  whom  he  might 
appeal;  but  he  sent  for  Wiley  first.  He  was  a 
mining  engineer,  he  had  had  his  eye  on  the  prop- 
erty and — well,  he  probably  knew  something  about 
the  lost  vein.  So  he  sent  a  wire,  and  then  a  man; 
and  at  last  Holman,  M.E.,  arrived.  He  came  under 
protest,  for  he  had  been  showing  a  mine  of  his 
own  to  some  four-buckle  experts  from  the  east, 
and  when  Blount  made  his  appeal  he  snorted. 

"Well,  for  the  love  of  Miguel !"  he  exclaimed, 
starting  up.  "Do  you  think  I'm  going  to  help  you 
for  nothing?  I'm  a  mining  engineer,  and  the  least 
it  will  cost  you  is  five  hundred  dollars  for  a  report. 
No,  I  don't  think  anything;  and  I  don't  know 
anything;  and  I  won't  take  your  mine  on  shares. 
I'm  through — do  you  get  me?  I  sold  out  my  entire 
interest  for  one  hundred  dollars,  cash.  That  puts 
me  ahead  of  the  game,  up  to  date;  and  while 
I'm  lucky  I'll  quit." 

He  stamped  out  of  the  office — Blount  having 
moved  into  the  bank  building  where  he  had  formerly 
officiated  as  president — and  made  a  break  for  his 
machine;  but  other  eyes  had  marked  his  arrival  in 
town  and  Death  Valley  Charley  button-holed  him. 

"Say,"  he  said,  "do  you  want  something  good — 
an  option  on  ten  first-class  claims?  Well,  come 
with  me;  I'll  make  you  an  offer  that  you  can't 
hardly,  possibly  refuse." 


THE  BEST  HEAD  IN  TOWN  93 

He  led  Wiley  up  an  alley,  then  whisked  him 
around  corners  and  back  to  his  house  behind  the 
Widow's. 

"Now,  listen/'  he  went  on,  when  Wiley  was 
in  a  chair  and  he  had  carefully  fastened  the  door, 
"I'm  going  to  show  you  something  good." 

He  reached  under  his  bed  and  Drought  out  ten 
sacks  of  samples  which  he  spread,  one  by  one,  on 
the  table. 

"Now,  you  see?"  he  said.  "  It's  all  that  white 
quartz  that  you  was  after  on  the  Paymaster  dump. 
I  followed  the  outcrop,  on  an  extension  of  the  Pay- 
master, and  I  took  up  ten,  good,  opened  claims." 

"Umm,"  murmured  Wiley,  and  examined  each 
sample  with  a  careful,  appraising  eye.  "Yes,  pretty 
good,  Charley;  I  suppose  you  guarantee  the  title? 
Well,  how  much  do  you  want  for  your  claims  ? ' 

"Oh,  whatever  you  say,"  answered  Charley 
modestly,  "but  I  want  two  hundred  dollars  down." 

"And  about  a  million  apiece,  I  suppose,  for  the 
claims?  It  doesn't  cost  me  anything,  you  know, 
on  an  option." 

"Eh,  heh,  heh,"  laughed  Charley  indulgently 
and  Heine,  who  had  been  looking  from  face  to  face, 
jumped  up  and  barked  with  delight.  "Eh,  heh; 
yes,  that's  good;  but  you  know  me,  Mr.  Holman — 
I  ain't  so  crazy  as  they  think.  No,  I  don't  talk 
millions  with  my  mouth  full  of  beans;  all  I  want 
is  five  hundred  apiece.  But  I  got  to  have  two 
hundred  down." 

"Oh,"  observed  Wiley,   "that's  two  dollars  for 


94  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

the  marriage  license  and  the  rest  for  the  wedding 

journey.     Well,    if    it's    as    serious    as    that ,: 

He  reached  for  his  check-book  and  Charley  cackled 
with  merriment. 

"Yes,  yes,"  he  said,  "then  I  would  be  crazy. 
Do  you  know  what  the  Colonel  told  me? 

"'Charley,'  he  says,  'whatever  you  do,  don't 
marry  no  talking  woman.  She'll  drive  you  crazy, 
the  same  as  I  am;  but  don't  you  forget  that 
whiskey.'" 

"Oh,  sure,"  exclaimed  Wiley,  beginning  to  write 
out  the  option,  "this  money  is  to  buy  whiskey 
for  the  Colonel!" 

"That's  it,"  answered  Charley.  "He's  over  across 
Death  Valley — in  the  Ube-Hebes — but  I  can't 
find  my  burros.  They — Heine,  come  here,  sir!' 
Heine  came  up  cringing  and  Charley  slapped  him 
soundly.  "Shut  up!"  he  commanded  and  as  Heine 
crept  away  Death  Valley  began  to  mutter  to  himself. 
"No,  of  course  not;  he's  dead,"  he  ended  ineffectively, 
and  Wiley  looked  up  from  his  writing. 

"Who's  dead?"  he  inquired,  but  Charley  shook 
his  head  and  listened  through  the  wall. 

"Look  out,"  he  said,  "I  can  hear  her  coming — 
jest  give  me  that  two  hundred  now." 

"Well,  here's  twenty,"  replied  Wiley,  passing 
over  the  money,  and  then  there  came  a  knock  at 
the  door. 

"Come  in!"  called  out  Charley  and,  as  he  mo- 
tioned Wiley  to  be  silent,  Virginia  appeared  in  the 
doorway. 


j  THE  BEST  HEAD  IN  TOWN  95 

"Oh!"  she  cried,  "I  didn't  know  you  were  here!'* 
But  something  in  the  way  she  fixed  her  eyes  on 
him  convinced  Wiley  that  she  had  known,  all  the 
same. 

"Just  a  matter  of  business,"  he  explained  with 
a  flourish,  "I'm  considering  an  option  on  some  of 
Charley's  claims." 

"Jest  my  bum  claims!"  mumbled  Charley  as 
Virginia  glanced  at  him  reprovingly.  "Jest  them 
ten  up  north  of  the  Paymaster." 

"Oh,'3  she  said  and  drew  back  towards  the 
door,  "well,  don't  let  me  break  up  a  trade." 

"You'd  better  sign  as  a  witness,"  spoke  up 
Wiley  imperturbably,  and  she  stepped  over  and 
looked  at  the  paper.  4 

"What?  All  ten  of  those  claims  for  five  hundred 
apiece  ?    Why,  Charley,  they  may  be  worth  millions ! " 

'"Well,  put  it  down  five  million,  then,"  sug- 
gested Wiley,  grimly.  "How  much  do  you  want 
for  them,  Charley?" 

"Five  hundred  dollars  apiece,"  answered  Charley 
promptly,  "but  they's  got  to  be  two  hundred 
down." 

"Well?"  inquired  Wiley  as  Virginia  still  regarded 
him  suspiciously,  and  then  he  beckoned  her  outside. 
"Say,  what's  the  matter?"  he  asked  reproachfully. 
"Let  the  old  boy  make  his  touch — he  wants  that 
two  hundred  for  grub." 

"He  does  not!"  she  spat  back.  "I'm  ashamed  of 
you,  Wiley  Holman;  taking  advantage  of  a  crazy 
man  like  that!" 


96  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  he  began  in  a  slow,  drawling 
tone  that  cut  her  to  the  quick,  "he  may  not  be  as 
crazy  as  you  think.  IVe  just  been  offered  a  half 
interest  in  the  Paymaster  if  I'll  come  out  and 
take  charge  of  it." 

"You  havel"  she  cried,  starting  back  and  staring 
as  he  regarded  her  with  steely  eyes.  'Well,  are 
you  going  to  take  it?" 

"I  don't  know,"  he  answered.  "Thought  I'd 
better  see  you  first — it  might  be  taking  advantage 
of  Blount." 

"Of  Blount!"  she  echoed  and  then  she  saw  his 
smile  and  realized  that  he  was  making  fun  of  her. 

"Yes,"  went  on  Wiley,  whose  feelings  had  been 
ruffled,  "he  may  be  crazy,  too.  He  sure  was  looking 
the  part." 

"Now  don't  you  laugh  at  me!'  she  burst  out 
hotly.  "This  isn't  as  funny  as  you  think.  What's 
going  to  happen  to  us  if  you  take  over  that 
mine?  I  declare,  you've  been  standing  in  with 
Blount!" 

"I  knew  it,"  he  mocked.  "You  catch  me  every 
time.  But  what  about  Charley  here — does  he  get 
his  money  or  not?'  He  turned  to  Death  Valley, 
who  was  standing  in  the  doorway  watching  their 
quarrel  with  startled  eyes.  "I  guess  you're  right, 
Charley,"  he  added,  smiling  wryly.  "It  must  be 
something  in  the  air." 

"Are  you  going  to  take  that  offer,'  demanded 
Virginia,  wrathfully,  "and  rob  me  and  mother  of 
our  mine?" 


THE  BEST  HEAD  IN  TOWN  97 

"Oh,  no,"  he  answered,  "I  turned  it  down  cold. 
I  knew  you  wouldn't  approve." 

"You  knew  nothing  of  the  kind!,:  she  came 
back  sharply,  the  angry  tears  starting  in  her  eyes. 
"And  I  don't  believe  he  ever  made  it." 

"Well,  ask  him,"  suggested  Wiley,  and  went  back 
into  the  house,  whereupon  Death  Valley  closed  the 
door. 

"Yes,"  whispered  Charley,  "it's  in  the  air — there's 
electricity  everywhere.  But  what  about  that  op- 
tion?" 

Wiley  sat  at  the  table,  his  eyes  big  with  anger, 
his  jaw  set  hard  against  the  pain,  and  then  he 
reached  for  his  pen. 

"All  right,  Charley,"  he  said,  "but  don't  you  let 
'em   kid   you — you've  got  the  best   business  head 


in  town." 


CHAPTER  XI 
A  Touch 

THE  wrath  of  a  man  who  is  slow  to  anger  cannot 
lightly  be  turned  aside  and,  though  Virginia 
drooped  her  lashes,  the  son  of  Honest  John 
brushed  past  her  without  a  word.  She  had  fol- 
lowed him  gratuitously  to  Death  Valley's  cabin 
and  seriously  questioned  his  good  faith;  and  then, 
to  fan  the  flames  of  his  just  resentment,  she  had 
suggested  that  he  was  telling  an  untruth.  He 
had  told  her — and  it  seemed  impossible — that 
Blount  had  offered  him  half  the  Paymaster,  on 
shares;  but  the  following  morning,  without  a  word 
of  warning,  the  Paymaster  Mine  shut  down.  The 
pumps  stopped  abruptly,  all  the  tools  were  removed, 
and  as  the  foreman  and  miners  who  had  been  their 
boarders  rolled  up  their  beds  and  prepared  to  depart, 
the  high-headed  Virginia  buried  her  face  in  her 
hands  and  retired  to  her  bedroom  to  weep.  And 
then  to  cap  it  all  that  miserable  assayer  sent  in 
his  belated  report. 

"Gold — a  trace.  Silver — blank.  Copper — blank. 
Lead — blank.     Zinc — blank." 

The  heavy  white  quartz  which  Wiley  had  made 
so  much  of  was  as  barren  as  the  dirt  in  the  street. 
It    had    absolutely    no    value    and — oh,    wretched 

98 


A  TOUCH  99 

thought — he  had  offered  to  buy  her  stock  out  of 
charity!     Out    of   the    bigness    of    his    heart — and 
then    she   had    insulted    him    and    accused    him    of 
robbing   Death    Valley   Charley!     In   the   light   of 
this  new  day  Death  Valley  was  a  magnate,  with 
his   check   for   two   hundred    dollars,    and   Virginia 
and  her  mother  must  either  starve  on  in   silence 
or    accept   the   bounty   of  the    Holmans.     It   was 
maddening,   unbelievable — and   to   think   what    he 
had  suffered  from  her,  before  he  had  finally  gone 
off  in    a   rage.     But   how   sarcastic   he    had    been 
when    she   had    accused    him   of  robbing   Charley, 
and    of   standing   in   with    Blount!     He    had    said 
things  then  which   no  woman   could   forgive;    no, 
not  even  if  she  were  in  the  wrong.     He  had   led 
her  on  to   make  unconsidered   statements,   smiling 
provokingly    all    the    time;     and    then,    when    she 
had  doubted  that  Blount  had  offered  him  the  mine, 
he  had  said,  "Well,  ask  him!"  and  shut  the  door 
in  her  face!     And  now,  without  asking,  the  question 
had  been  answered,  for  Blount  had  closed  down  the 
mine  in  despair  and  gone  back  to  his  bank  in  Vegas. 
The  Paymaster  was  dead,  and  Keno  was  dead; 
and  their  eight  hundred  dollars  was  gone.     All  the 
profits   from  the   miners  which   they  had   counted 
upon   so   confidently   had   disappeared   in   a   single 
day;    and   now  her   mother  would   have  to   pawn 
her  diamonds  again  in  order  to  get  out  of  town. 
Virginia  paced   up  and   down,   debating  the  situa- 
tion and  seeking  some  possible  escape,   but  every 
door  was  closed      She  could  not  appeal  to  Wiley, 


ioo  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

for  she  knew  her  stock  was  worthless,  and  her 
hold  on  his  sympathies  was  broken.  He  was  a 
Yankee  and  cold,  and  his  anger  was  cold — the 
kind  that  will  not  burn  itself  out.  When  he  had 
loved  her  it  was  different;  there  was  a  spark  of 
human  kindness  to  which  she  could  always  appeal; 
but  now  he  was  as  cold  and  passionless  as  a  statue; 
with  his  jaws  shut  down  like  iron.  She  gave  up 
and  went  out  to  see  Charley. 

Death  Valley  was  celebrating  his  sudden  rise 
to  affluence  by  a  resort  to  the  flowing  bowl  and 
when  Virginia  stepped  in  she  found  all  three  pho- 
nographs running  and  a  two-gallon  demijohn  on 
the  table.  Death  Valley  himself  was  reposing  in 
an  armchair  with  one  leg  wrapped  up  in  a  white 
bandage  and  as  she  stopped  the  grinding  phono- 
graphs and  made  a  grab  for  the  demijohn  he  held 
up  two  lingers  reprovingly. 

"I'm  snake-bit,"  he  croaked.  "Don't  take  away 
my  medicine.  Do  you  want  your  Uncle  Charley 
to  die?" 

"Why,  Charley!"  she  cried,  "you  know  you  aren't 
snake-bit!     The  rattlesnakes  are  all  holed  up  now." 

"Yes — holed  up,"  he  nodded;  "that's  how  I 
got  snake-bit.  It  was  fourteen  years  ago,  this 
month.  Didn't  you  ever  hear  of  my  snake-mine — 
it  was  one  of  the  marvels  of  Arizona — a  two-foot 
stratum  of  snakes.  I  used  to  hook  'em  out  as 
fast  as  I  needed  them  and  try  out  the  oil  to  cure 
rheumatism;  but  one  day  I  dropped  one  and  he 
bit  me  on  the  leg,   and   it's  been   bad  that  same 


A  TOUCH  ioi 

month  ever  since.  Would  you  like  to  see  the  bite? 
There's  the  pattern  of  a  diamond-back  just  as 
plain  as  anything,  so  I  know  it  must  have  been  a 
rattler. " 

He  reached  resolutely  for  the  demijohn  and  took 
a  hearty  drink  whereat  Virginia  sat  down  with  a 
sigh. 

"I'll  tell  you  something,"  went  on  Charley  con- 
fidentially. "Do  you  know  why  a  snake  shakes  its 
tail?  It's  generating  electricity  to  shoot  in  the 
pisen,  and  the  longer  a  rattlesnake  rattles " 

"Oh,  now,  Charley,"  she  begged,  "can't  you  see 
I'm  in  trouble?  Well,  stop  drinking  and  listen  to 
what  I  say.     You  can  help  me  a  lot,  if  you  will." 

"Who — me?"  demanded  Charley,  and  then  he 
roused  himself  up  and  motioned  for  a  dipper  of  water. 
"Well,  all  right,"  he  said,  "I  hate  to  kill  this  whis- 
key  "     He  drank  in  great  gulps  and  made  a 

wry  face  as  he  rose  up  and  looked  around. 

"Where's  Heine?"  he  demanded.  "Here  Heine, 
Heine!" 

"You  drove  him  under  the  house,"  answered 
Virginia  petulantly,  "playing  all  three  phonographs 
at  once.  Really,  it's  awful,  Charley,  and  you'd 
better  look  out  or  mother  will  give  you  the  bounce." 

"Scolding  women — talking  women,"  mused  Char- 
ley drunkenly.  "Well,  what  do  you  want  me  to  do?" 

"I'm  not  scolding!'1  denied  Virginia,  and  then  as 
he  leered  at  her  she  gave  way  weakly  to  tears. 
"Well,  I  can't  help  it,"  she  wailed,  "she  scolds  me 
all  the  time  and — she  simply  drives  me.  to  ifr".  ♦ 


102  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"They'll  drive  you  crazy/'  murmured  Charley 
philosophically.  "There's  nothing  to  do  but  hide 
out.  But  I  must  save  the  rest  of  that  whiskey  for 
the  Colonel." 

He  reached  for  the  demijohn  and  corked  it  stoutly, 
after  which  he  turned  to  Virginia. 

"Do  you  want  some  money?"  he  asked  more 
kindly,  bringing  forth  his  roll  as  he  spoke.  "Well 
here,  Virginny,  there's  one  hundred  dollars — it's 
nothing  to  your  Uncle  Charley.  No,  I  got  plenty 
more;  and  I'm  going  up  the  Ube-Hebes  just  as 
soon  as  I  find  my  burros.  They  must  be  over  to 
Cottonwood — there's  lots  of  sand  over  there  and 
Jinny,  she's  hell  for  rolling.  No,  take  the  money; 
I  got  it  from  Wiley  Holman  and  he's  got  plenty 
more." 

He  dropped  it  in  her  lap,  but  she  jumped  up 
hastily  and  put  it  back  in  his  hands. 

"No,  not  that  money,"  she  said,  "but  listen  to 
me,  Charley;  here's  what  I  want  you  to  do.  I've 
got  some  stock  in  the  Paymaster  Mine  that  Wiley 
was  trying  to  buy;  but  now — oh,  you  saw  how 
he  treated  me  yesterday — he  wouldn't  take  it, 
if  he  knew.  But  Charley,  you  take  it;  and  the 
next  time  you  see  him — well,  try  to  get  ten  cents 
a  share.  We  want  to  go  away,  Charley;  because 
the  mine  is  closed  down  and " 

"Yes,  yes,  Virginny,"  spoke  up  Death  Valley, 
soothingly,  "I'll  get  you  the  money,  right  away." 

"But  don't  you  tell  him!"  she  warned  in  a  panic, 
"because " 


A  TOUCH  ,103 

"You  ought  to  be  ashamed,"  said  Charley  re- 
provingly and  went  out  to  hunt  up  his  burros. 
Virginia  lingered  about,  looking  off  across  the  desert 
at  the  road  down  which  Wiley  had  sped,  and  at 
last  she  bowed  her  head.  Those  last  words  of 
Charley's  still  rang  in  her  ears  and  when,  towards 
evening,  he  started  off  down  the  road  she  watched 
him  out  of  sight. 

It  was  a  long,  dry  road,  this  highway  to  Vegas, 
but  twenty  miles  out,  at  Government  Wells,  there 
was  water,  and  a  good  place  to  camp.  Charley 
stopped  there  that  night,  and  for  three  days  more, 
until  at  last  in  the  distance  he  saw  Wiley's  white 
racer  at  the  tip  of  a  streamer  of  dust.  He  went 
by  like  the  wind  but  when  he  spied  Charley  he 
slowed  down  and  backed  up  to  his  camp. 

"Hel-lo  there,  Old  Timer,"  he  hailed  in  surprise, 
"what  are  you  doing,  away  out  here?" 

"Oh,  rambling  around,"  responded  Charley  airily, 
waving  his  hand  at  the  world  at  large.  "It's  good 
for  man  to  be  alone,  away  from  them  scolding 
women." 

The  shadow  of  a  smile  passed  over  Wiley's 
bronzed  face  and  then  he  became  suddenly  grim. 

"Bum  scripture,  Charley,"  he  said,  nodding 
shortly,  "but  you  may  be  right,  at  that.  What's 
the  excitement  around  beautiful  Keno?" 

"I  don't  know,"  lied  Charley.  "Ain't  been  in 
town  since  you  was  there,  but  she  was  sure  boom- 
ing, then.  Say,  I've  got  some  stock  in  that  Pay- 
master Mine  that  I  might  let  you  have,  for  cash. 


io4  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

v 

I'm  burnt  out  on  the  town — they's  too  many  people 
in  it — I'm  going  back  to  the  Ube-Hebes.'5 

"Well,  take  me  along,  then,"  suggested  Wiley, 
"and  we'll  bring  back  a  car-load  of  that  gold.  May- 
be then  I  could  buy  your  stock." 

"No,  you  buy  it  now,"  went  on  Charley  insist- 
ently.    "I'm  broke  and  I  need  the  money." 

"Oh,  you  do,  eh?"  jested  Wiley.  "Still  thinking 
about  that  wedding  trip?  Well,  I  may  need  that 
money  myself." 

"Eh,  heh,  heh,"  laughed  Charley,  and  drawing 
forth  a  package  he  began  to  untie  the  strings. 
"Eh,  heh;  yes,  that's  right;  I've  been  watching 
you  young  folks  for  some  time.  But  I'll  sell  you 
this  stock  of  mine  cheap."  ■* 

He  unrolled  a  cloth  and  flashed  the  certificates 
hopefully,  but  Wiley  did  not  even  look  at  them. 

"Nope,"  he  said,  "no  Paymaster  for  me.  I 
wouldn't  accept  that  stock  as  a  gift." 

"But  it's  rich!"  protested  Charley,  his  eyes 
beginning  to  get  wild.  "It's  full  of  silver  and  gold. 
I  can  feel  the  electricity  when  I  walk  over  the 
property  —  there's  millions  and  millions,  right 
there!" 

"Oh,  there  is,  eh?"  observed  Wiley,  and,  snatch- 
ing away  the  certificates,  he  ran  them  rapidly  over. 
"Where'd  you  get  these?"  he  asked,  and  Death 
Valley  blinked,  though  he  looked  him  straight  in 
the  eyes. 

"Why,  I— bought  'em,"  he  faltered,  "and— the 
Colonel  gave  me  some.    And " 


A  TOUCH  105 

"How  much  do  you  want  for  them?"  snapped 
Wiley,  and  Charley  blinked  again. 

"Ten  cents  a  share,"  he  answered,  and  Wiley's 
stern  face  hardened. 

"You  take  these  back,"  he  said,  "and  tell  her  I 
don't  want  'em." 

"Who — Virginny?"  inquired  Death  Valley,  and 
then  he  kicked  his  leg  and  looked  around  for  Heine. 

"Now,  here,"  spoke  up  Wiley,  "don't  go  to 
slapping  that  dog.  How  much  do  you  want  for  the 
bunch?" 

"Four  hundred  dollars!"  barked  Charley,  and 
stood  watchful  and  expectant  as  Wiley  sat  deep 
in  thought. 

"All  right,"  he  said,  and  as  he  wrote  out  the 
check  Death  Valley  chuckled  and  leered  at  Heine. 


CHAPTER  XII 
The  Expert 

LIKE  the  way  of  an  eagle  in  the  air  or  the 
way  of  a  man  with  a  maid,  the  ways  of 
a  mining  promoter  must  be  shrouded  in 
mystery  and  doubt.  For  when  he  wants  to  buy, 
no  man  will  sell;  and  when  he  wants  to  sell,  no 
man  will  buy;  and  when  he  will  neither  buy  nor 
sell  he  is  generally  suspected  of  both.  Wiley  Hol- 
man  had  two  fights  and  a  charge  of  buckshot  to 
prove  that  he  wanted  the  Paymaster,  and  the  fact 
that  he  had  refused  a  half  interest  for  nothing  to 
prove  that  he  did  not  want  it.  Also  he  had  sold 
his  tax-title  to  the  property  for  the  sum  of  one 
hundred  dollars.  What  then  did  it  signify  when 
he  bought  Virginia's  despised  stock  for  four  hun- 
dred dollars,  cash  down?  The  man  who  could 
answer  that  could  explain  the  way  of  a  man  with 
a  maid. 

Samuel  J.  Blount  made  the  claim — and  he  had 
his  pile  to  prove  it — that  he  could  think  a  little 
closer  than  most  men.  A  little  closer,  and  a  little 
farther;  but  the  Paymaster  had  been  his  downfall. 
He  had  played  the  long  game  to  get  possession  of 
the  mine,  only  to  find  he  had  bought  a  white  ele- 

106 


THE  EXPERT  107 

phant  Every  day  that  he  held  it  he  had  thrown 
good  money  after  bad  and  he  sent  out  a  search 
party  for  Wiley  Holman.  Wiley  had  refused  half 
the  mine,  but  that  only  proved  that  half  of  the 
mine  did  not  appeal  to  him — perhaps  he  would 
take  it  all.  Samuel  J.  had  been  a  student  for  a 
good  many  years  in  the  school  of  predatory  business 
and  he  had  learned  the  rules  of  the  game.  He  knew 
that  the  buyer  always  decried  the  goods  and  mag- 
nified each  tiny  defect,  whereas  the  seller  by  as 
natural  a  process  played  up  every  virtue  to  the 
limit.  But  any  man  who  inspected  the  goods  was 
a  potential  buyer  of  the  same,  and  Wiley  had  shown 
more  than  a  passing  interest  in  the  fate  of  the 
unlucky  Paymaster.  And  Wiley  was  a  mining 
engineer. 

They  met  in  the  glassed-in  office  of  Blount  in 
the  ornate  Bank  of  Vegas  and  for  a  half  an  hour  or 
more  Wiley  sat  tipped  back  in  his  chair  while  Blount 
talked  of  everything  in  general.  It  was  a  way  he 
had,  never  to  approach  anything  directly;  but 
Wiley  favored  more  direct  methods. 

"I  understood,"  he  remarked,  bringing  his  chair 
down  with  a  bang,  "that  you  wanted  to  see  me 
on  business?" 

"Yes,  yes,  Wiley,"  soothed  Blount,  "now  please 
don't  rush  off — I  wanted  to  see  you  about  the 
Paymaster." 

"Well,  shoot,"  returned  Wiley,  "but  don't  ask 
my  advice,  unless  you're  ready  to  pay  for  it.'5 

He  tipped  back  his  chair  and  sat  waiting  patiently 


108  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

while  Blount  unraveled  his  thoughts.  He  could 
think  closer  than  most  men,  but  not  quicker,  and 
the  Paymaster  was  a  tangled  affair. 

"I  have  been  told/'  he  began  at  last,  "that  you 
are  still  buying  Paymaster  stock.  Or  at  least — 
well,  a  check  of  yours  came  through  here  endorsed 
by  Death  Valley  Charley,  and  Virginia  Huff.  Oh, 
yes,  yes;  that's  your  business,  of  course;  but  here's 
the  point  I'm  coming  to;  it  won't  do  you  any  good 
to  buy  in  that  stock  because  I've  got  a  majority 
of  it  right  here  in  my  vault.  If  you  want  to  control 
the  Paymaster,  don't  go  to  someone  else — I'm  the 
man  you  want  to  see." 

He  tapped  himself  on  the  breast  and  smiled 
impressively,  and  Wiley  nodded  his  head. 

"All  right,"  he  said  imperturbably,  "when  I 
want  the  Paymaster  Mine  I'll  know  right  where 
to  go." 

"Yes,  you  come  to  me,"  went  on  Blount  after 
a  minute,  "and  I'll  do  the  best  I  can."  He  paused 
expectantly,  but  Wiley  did  not  speak,  so  he  went 
on  blandly,  as  before.  "The  stock,  of  course,  is 
nonassessable  and  the  taxes  are  very  small.  I 
intend  from  now  on  to  keep  them  paid  up,  so  there 
will  be  no  further  tax  sales.  The  stock  of  Mrs. 
Huff,  which  I  now  hold  as  collateral  security,  is 
practically  mine  already,  as  she  has  defaulted  on 
her  first  month's  interest  and  is  preparing  to  leave 
the  state.  Of  course,  there  is  the  stock  which 
your  father  is  holding — as  I  calculate,  something 
over  two  hundred  thousand  shares — and  what  little 


THE  EXPERT  109 

remains  outside;  but  if  you  are  interested  in  the 
mine  I  am  the  man  to  talk  to,  so  what  would  you 
like  to  propose  ?" 

"Well,"  began  Wiley,  and  then  he  stopped  and 
seemed  to  be  lost  in  thought.  "I'll  tell  you," 
he  said,  "I  was  interested  in  the  Paymaster — I 
believe  there's  something  there;  but  I've  got  some 
other  propositions  that  I  can  handle  a  little  easier, 
so  if  you  don't  mind  we'll  wait  a  while." 

"No,  but  Wiley,"  protested  Blount  as  his  man 
rose  up  to  go,  "now  just  sit  down;  I'm  not  quite 
through.  Now  I  know  just  as  well  as  you  do  that 
you  take  a  great  interest  in  that  mine.  Your  troubles 
with  Mrs.  Huff  and  Stiff  Neck  George  prove  con- 
clusively that  such  is  the  case;  and  I  am  con- 
vinced that,  either  from  your  father  or  some  other 
source,  you  have  valuable  inside  information.  Now 
I  must  admit  that  I'm  not  a  mining  man  and  my 
management  was  not  a  success;  but  with  your 
technical  education  and  all  the  rest,  I  am  con- 
vinced that  the  results  would  be  different.  No, 
there's  no  use  denying  it,  because  I  know  myself 
that  you've  been  buying  up  Paymaster  stock." 

"Sure,"  agreed  Wiley,  "I  bought  four  hundred 
dollars  worth.  That  would  break  the  Bank  of 
Vegas.  But  you've  got  lots  of  money — why  don't 
you  hire  a  competent  mining  man  and  go  after 
that  lost  ore-body  yourself?" 

"I  may  do  that,"  replied  Blount  easily,  "but  in 
the  meantime  why  not  make  me  a  reasonable  offer, 
or  take  the  mine  on  shares?" 


no  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"If  the  Paymaster,"  observed  Wiley,  "was  the 
only  mine  in  the  world,  I'd  make  you  a  proposition 
in  a  minute.  But  a  man  in  my  position  doesn't 
have  to  buy  his  mines,  and  I  never  work  anything 
on  shares. " 

"Well,  now  Wiley,  I've  got  another  proposition, 
which  you  may  or  may  not  approve;  but  there's 
no  harm,  I  hope,  if  I  mention  it.  You  know  there's 
been  a  difference  between  me  and  your  father  since 
— well,  since  the  Paymaster  shut  down.  I  respect 
him  very  much  and  have  nothing  but  the  kindliest 
feelings  towards  him  but  he — well,  you  know  how 
it  is.  But  I  have  been  informed,  Wiley,  that  since 
Colonel  Huff's  death,  your  father  has  been  bidding 
for  his  stock.  In  fact,  I  have  seen  a  letter  writen 
to  Mrs.  Huff  in  which  he  offers  her  ten  cents  a 
share.  Now,  of  course,  if  you  want  to  gain  control 
of  the  company,  I'm  willing  to  do  what's  right; 
and  so,  after  thinking  it  over,  I  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  I  will  accept  that  offer  now.'3 

"Umm,"  responded  Wiley,  squinting  his  eyes  down 
shrewdly,  "how  much  would  that  come  to,  in 
all?" 

"Well,  twenty-one  thousand,  eight  hundred  dol- 
lars, for  what  I  received  from  Mrs.  Huff;  but  of 
course — well,  he'd  have  to  buy  a  little  more  of  me 
in  order  to  get  positive  control." 

"How  much  more?"  asked  Wiley,  but  Blount's 
crooked  mouth  pulled  down  in  a  crafty  smile. 

"We  can  discuss  that  later,"  he  suggested  mildly. 
"Do  you  think  he  will  buy  the  stock?" 


THE  EXPERT  in 

"Not  if  he  takes  my  advice,"  answered  Wiley 
coldly.  "I  can  buy  the  whole  block  for  eight 
hundred." 

"How?" 

"Why,  by  loaning  Mrs.  Huff  the  eight  hundred 
dollars  with  which  to  take  up  her  note." 

"I  doubt  it,"  replied  Blount,  and  his  mild,  de- 
ceiving eyes  took  on  the  faintest  shadow  of  a  threat. 
"Mrs.  Huff  has  defaulted  on  her  first  month's 
interest  and,  according  to  the  terms  of  her  note, 
the  collateral  automatically  passes  to  me." 

"Well,  keep  it,  then,"  burst  out  Wiley,  "and  I 
hope  to  God  you  get  stuck  for  every  cent.  Your 
old  mine  isn't  worth  a  dam'!" 

"Why — Wiley!"  gasped  Blount,  quite  shaken  for 
the  moment  by  this  disastrous  piece  of  news,  "what 
reason  have  you  for  thinking  that?" 

"Give  me  a  hundred  dollars  as  an  advising  expert 
and  I'll  tell  you — and  show  you,  too." 

"No,  I  hardly  think  so,"  answered  Blount  at 
last.     "And,  Wiley,  you  don't  think  so,  either." 

"No?"  challenged  Wiley.  "Well,  you  just  watch 
my  smoke  and  see  whether  I  do  or  not." 

He  had  closed  the  door  before  Blount  dragged 
him  back  like  a  haggling,  relentless  pawn-broker. 

"Make  me  a  proposition,"  he  clamored  des- 
perately, "and  if  it's  anywhere  in  reason  I'll  accept 


it. 


"All  right,"  answered  Wiley,  "but  show  me  what 
you've  got — I  don't  buy  any  cat  in  a  bag." 

"And  will  you  make  me  an  offer?'    demanded 


ii2  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

Blount  hopefully.  "Will  you  take  the  whole  thing 
off  my  hands?" 

"I  will  if  it's  good — but  you'll  have  to  show 
me  first  that  you've  got  a  controlling  share  of  the 
stock.  And  another  thing,  Mr.  Blount,  since  our 
time  is  equally  valuable,  let's  cut  out  this  four- 
flushing  stuff*.  If  I'd  wanted  your  mine  so  awfully 
bad  I'd  have  held  on  to  it  when  the  title  was  mine; 
but  I  turned  it  back  to  you,  just  to  let  you  look  it 
over,  and  to  keep  the  peace  for  once.  But  now, 
if  you're  satisfied,  I  might  look  it  over;  but  it'll 
be  under  a  bond  and  lease.  The  parties  I  represent 
are  strictly  business,  and  we  make  it  a  rule  to  tie 
everything  up  tight  before  we  put  out  a  cent. 
I'll  want  an  option  on  every  share  you  have,  and  I 
can't  offer  more  than  ten  per  cent  royalty;  but  to 
compensate  for  that  I'll  agree  to  pay  in  full  or  vacate 
within  six  months  from  date." 

"But  how  much?"  demanded  Blount,  brushing 
aside  all  the  details,  "how  much  will  you  pay  me 
a  share?" 

"I'll  pay  you,"  stated  Wiley,  "what  I  paid 
Death  Valley  Charley,  and  that's  five  cents  a  share." 

"Five  cents !':  shrilled  Blount,  rising  up  in  pro- 
test, yet  jumping  at  the  price  like  a  trout,  (<iivG 
cents — why,  that's  practically  nothing!" 

"Just  five  cents  more  than  nothing,"  observed 
Wiley  judicially  and  waited  for  Blount  to  rave. 

"But  your  father,"  suggested  Blount  with  a 
knowing  leer,  "is  in  the  market  at  ten." 

"No,  not  in  the  market.    He  offered  that  to  the 


THE  EXPERT  113 

Widow,  but  now  the  deal  is  off,  because  all  of  her 
stock  has  changed  hands." 

"Well,  the  stock  is  the  same,"  suggested  Blount 
insinuatingly.  "Give  me  seven  and  a  half  and  split 
the  profits." 

"Now  don't  be  a  crook,"  rapped  out  Wiley 
angrily.  "Just  because  you  would  rob  your  own 
father  doesn't  by  any  means  prove  that  I  will." 

"Well,  you  certainly  implied,"  protested  Blount 
with  injured  innocence,  "that  this  stock  was  to  be 
sold  to  your  father.  And  if  it  is  worth  that  to 
him,  why  is  it  worth  less  to  you?  You  must  be 
working  together." 

"No,  we're  not,"  declared  Wiley.  "I'm  in  on 
this  alone,  and  have  been,  from  the  start.  And 
just  to  set  your  mind  at  rest — he  didn't  make  that 
offer  because  he  wanted  the  stock,  but  to  kind  of 
help  out  the  Widow." 

"Ah,"  smiled  Blount,  and  nodded  his  head  wisely, 
but  there  was  a  playful  light  in  his  eyes. 

"Yes — ah\"  flashed  back  Wiley,  "and  if  you  think 
you're  so  danged  smart  I'll  let  you  keep  your  old 
mine  a  few  months." 

He  started  for  the  door  again  but  Blount  dragged 
him  back  and  laid  a  metal  box  on  the  table. 

"Well,  let's  get  down  to  business,"  he  said  with 
quick  decision,  and  spread  a  heap  of  papers  before 
his  eyes.  "There  are  all  my  Paymaster  shares, 
and  if  you'll  take  them  off  my  hands  you  can  have 
them  for  six  cents,  cash." 

"I  said  five*"  returned  Wiley,  as  he  ran  through 


ii4  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

the  papers,  "and  an  option  to  buy  in  six  months. 
But  this  stock  of  the  Widow's — I  can't  take  that 
at  any  price — the  Colonel  isn't  legally  dead." 

"What?'  yelled  Blount,  and  sat  down  in  a 
chair  while  he  stared  at  the  inscrutable  Wiley. 

"His  body  was  never  found  and,  under  the  law, 
he  can't  be  declared  dead  for  seven  years.  Mrs. 
Huff  had  no  right  to  sell  his  stock." 

"Oh,  but  he's  dead,  Wiley,"  assured  Blount. 
"Surely  there's  no  doubt  of  that.  They  found  his 
burro,  and  his  letters  and  everything;  and  where 
he  had  run  wild  through  the  sand.  If  that  storm 
hadn't  come  up  they  would  certainly  have  found 
his  body — the  Indian  trailers  said  so;  so  why  stick 
on  a  technicality?" 

"That's  the  law,"  said  Wiley.  "You  know  it  your- 
self. But  of  course,  if  you  want  to  vote  this  stock 
at  a  Directors'  meeting  we  can  still  do  business  on 
that  lease." 

"Oh,  my  Lord!"  sighed  Blount,  and  after  a 
heavy  silence  he  rose  up  and  paced  the  floor.  As 
for  Wiley,  he  ran  through  the  papers,  making  notes 
of  dates  and  numbers,  and  then  grimly  began  to 
fill  out  a  legal  blank. 

"There's  the  option,"  he  said,  passing  over  a  paper, 
"and  I  see  now  how  you  double-crossed  my  father. 
So  you  don't  need  to  sign  unless  you  want  to.'! 

"Why — er — what's  that?'  exclaimed  Blount, 
coming  out  of  his  abstraction  as  Wiley  slapped 
down  the  bundle  of  certificates. 

"I   see  by  these  endorsements,"  replied   Wiley, 


THE  EXPERT  115 

"that  you  sold  out  before  the  panic  and  bought  in 
all  this  stock  afterwards." 

Blount  started  and  a  red  line  mounted  up  to 
his  eyes  as  he  hastily  glanced  over  the  option. 

"Well,  I'll  sign  it,"  he  mumbled,  and  reached 
for  the  pen,  but  Wiley  checked  his  hand. 

"No,  you  ring  for  a  notary,"  he  said.  "I  want 
that  signature  acknowledged." 

The  notary  came  and  ran  perfunctorily  thnough 
his  formula,  after  wThich  he  left  them  alone. 

"Now  here's  the  bond  and  lease,"  went  on  Wiley 
curtly,  "so  bring  on  your  Board  of  Directors  and 
let's  get  this  business  over.  By  rights  I  ought  to 
kill  you." 

There  was  a  special  meeting  then  of  the  Board 
of  Directors  of  The  Paymaster  Mining  and  Milling 
Company,  and  when  the  bond  and  lease  was  prop- 
erly drawn  up,  they  signed  it  and  had  it  witnessed. 
Then  once  more  the  tense  silence  came  over  the 
room  and  Wiley  rose  to  go. 

"Well,"  he  said,  "I've  been  waiting  for  ten  years 
just  to  get  these  papers  in  my  hands.  And  now, 
you  danged  crook,  just  to  hit  you  where  you  live, 
I'm  going  to  make  a  fortune." 

"A  fortune!"  echoed  Blount,  and  then  he  clasped 
his  hands  and  sank  down  weakly  in  a  chair.  "I 
knew  it ! "  he  moaned,  "  I  knew  it  all  the  time — you've 
been  trying  to  get  that  mine  for  months.  But  what 
is  it,  Wiley?  Have  you  located  the  lost  vein? 
Oh,  I  knew  it;  all  the  time!" 

"Yes,  you  did,"  jeered  Wiley,  "you  didn't  know 


n6  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

anything,  except  how  to  grab  hold  of  the  stock. 
What  good  was  it  to  you  after  you'd  got  the  old 
mine — you  didn't  know  what  to  do  with  it!  All 
you  knew  was  how  to  rob  the  widow  and  the  orphan 
and  deprive  better  men  of  their  good  name.  You 
wait  till  I  tell  my  Old  Man  about  this — and  how 
you  were  selling  him  out,  all  the  time.  If  it  wasn't 
for  you  he'd  never  been  called  Honest  John  by  a 
bunch  of  these  tin-horns  and  crooks.  But  I'll 
show  you  who's  honest — I'm  going  to  skin  you 
alive  for  what  you  did  to  my  father.  You  wait  till 
I  make  my  clean-up!" 

"But  what  is  it,  Wiley?"  cried  Blount,  despair- 
ingly.    "Have  you  really  discovered  the  lost  vein?' 

"No,"  grinned  Wiley,  "but  I've  consulted  an 
expert  and  he  tells  me  the  mine  is  worth  millions!" 

"What — millions?"  burst  out  Blount,  struggling 
up  to  his  feet.  "Now  here,  Wiley  Holman;  I  want 
that  option  back!  You  secured  it  by  fraud  and 
misrepresentation  and  by  concealment  of  the  actual 
facts.  I'll  have  the  law  on  you — I'll  break  the  con- 
tract— you  came  here  with  intent  to  defraud!' 

"Don't  you  think  it!"  returned  Wiley,  thrusting 
out  his  lip.  "You  thought  you  were  trimming  me, 
like  taking  candy  from  a  baby.  Why  didn't  you 
get  an  expert  ?     I  offered  to  hire  out  to  you,  myself! " 

"Oh— hell!"  choked  Blount.  "Well,  tell  me  the 
worst — where  was  it  he  told  you  to  dig?' 

"Why  right  down  the  shaft,"  answered  Wiley 
blandly.  "He's  a  new  kind  of  mining  expert  and  he 
locates  the  gold  by  electricity." 


THE  EXPERT  ^117 

"By  electricity !"  exclaimed  Blount,  and  as  he 
perceived  Wiley's  smile  he  straightened  up  in  a 
rage.  "I  don't  believe  a  word  of  it.  Who  is  this 
man,  anyway  ?    I  never  heard  of  such  a  thing  before ! " 

"Oh,  yes!"  said  Wiley,  as  he  stepped  out  the  door, 
"you  know  the  professor  well.  They  call  him 
Death  Valley  Charley." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

A  Sack  of  Cats 

THE  weary  work  of  packing  had  gone  on 
endlessly  in  the  bare  rooms  of  the  old  Huff 
house  and  now  Virginia,  with  two  kittens 
in  her  arms  and  the  mother  cat  following  behind, 
was  passing  it  all  in  review.  A  solid  row  of  packing 
boxes,  arrayed  on  the  front  gallery,  awaited  the 
motor  truck;  and  here  and  there  in  corners  lay 
piles  of  discarded  treasures  that  were  destined  to 
go  to  Charley  for  loot.  He  was  hanging  about, 
with  his  pistol  well  in  front,  on  the  watch  for  Stiff 
Neck  George;  but  up  to  that  moment  the  Widow 
had  not  said  the  word  that  would  start  the  mad 
rush  for  plunder.  Her  trunks  were  all  packed, 
the  china  nested  in  barrels  and  the  bedding  sewed 
up  in  burlap;  but  still  from  day  to  day  she  put  off 
the  evil  moment,  and  Virginia  did  not  try  to  hurry 
her.  The  house  had  been  their  home  for  ten 
years  and  more  and,  though  Los  Angeles  would  be 
fine  with  its  palm  tr^es  and  bungalows,  it  was  a 
strange  land,  far  away.  And  what  would  they  do 
in  that  city  of  strange  faces  and  hustling,  eager 
real-estate  agents?  It  was  that  which  held  the 
Widow  back. 

nS 


A  SACK  OF  CATS  119 

In  the  city  there  would  be  rent  and  water  to  pay 
for,  and  electric  lights  and  wood;  but  in  desolate 
Keno  rent  and  water  and  wood  were  free,  and  the 
electric  light  company  had  taken  down  its  poles. 
If  the  town  were  not  so  dead — if  they  could  only 
make  a  living, — the  Widow  started  up  for  the  thou- 
sandth time,  for  she  heard  a  racing  auto  down  the 
street.  It  was  Wiley  Holman,  as  sure  as  shooting, 
and — well,  Wiley  was  not  so  bad.  It  was  his 
money,  really,  that  had  enabled  them  to  pack  up, 
and  would  enable  them  to  go,  when  they  started; 
and  the  Widow  knew,  as  well  as  she  knew  any- 
thing, that  he  had  designs  upon  the  mine.  He  was 
after  the  Paymaster,  and  if  he  ever  got  hold  of  it — 
well,  Keno  would  come  back  to  its  own.  She  rushed 
to  the  door  and  looked  out  into  the  street;  and  when 
she  met  Virginia,  running  away  from  meeting  Wiley, 
she  caught  her  and  whirled  her  about. 

Now  you  go  back  there,"  she  hissed  in  her  ear, 
and  I  want  you  to  be  nice  to  him — he  may  have 
come  back  about  the  mine." 

Virginia  went  out  the  door  and,  as  Wiley  Hol- 
man saw  her  standing  there,  he  leapt  out  and 
came  up  the  steps. 

'Well,  well,"  he  said,  "just  in  time  to  say 
good-by.  And  I  wanted  to  see  you,  too."  He  smiled 
down  at  her  boyishly  and  Virginia's  eyes  turned 
gentle  as  he  took  both  her  hands  in  his.  "I've 
got  some  news  to  tell  you,"  he  burst  out  eagerly; 
'not  news  that  will  buy  you  anything  but  some- 
thing to  remember  when  you're  gone." 


120  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

He  led  her  to  a  box  and,  taking  one  of  the  kittens, 
sat  down  with  his  back  to  the  door.  Then  he  rose 
up  hastily  at  a  sudden  rustle  from  behind  and 
glanced  inquiringly  at  Virginia. 

"It's  just  mother,"  she  said  and  at  the  mention 
of  her  name  Mrs.  Huff  came  boldly  out. 

"Why,  good  morning,  Wiley,"  she  said,  smiling 
over-sweetly.     "Seems  to  me  you're  awful  early." 

"Yes,"  answered  Wiley,  trying  vainly  to  seem 
polite,  "I  just  stopped  off  to  say  good-by!" 

He  offered  her  his  hand,  but  the  Widow  ignored 
the  hint  and  took  the  conversation  to  herself. 

"Well,  I'm  real  glad  you  came,"  she  went  on 
sociably,  "because  I  wanted  to  see  you  on  a  matter 
of  business.  In  fact,  I've  been  kind  of  waiting, 
on  the  chance  that  you  might  come  through.  Oh, 
I  know  that  I  don't  count,  but  you  can  see  Virginia 
afterwards;  and  I  wanted  to  consult  you  about  my 
stock.  Yes,  I  know,"  she  hastened  on,  as  his  face 
turned  grim,  "I  haven't  treated  you  fairly  at  all. 
I  should  have  taken  your  offer,  when  you  said 
you'd  give  ten  cents  for  every  share  of  stock  that 
I  had.  But  I  took  them  to  that  Blount  and  he 
gave  me  next  to  nothing,  and  now  he's  holding  the 
stock.  But  what  I  wanted  to  ask  was:  Isn't  there 
some  way  we  can  arrange  it  to  get  it  back  and  sell 
it  to  your  father?" 

"No,  I  don't  think  so,"  answered  Wiley,  putting 
down  the  kitten,  "and — well,  I  guess  I'd  better  go.' 

He  rose  up  reluctantly,  but  the  Widow  would  not 
hear  to  it  and  Virginia  beckoned  him  to  stay. 


A  SACK  OF  CATS  121 

"Well,  now  listen,"  persisted  the  Widow.  "That 
stock  certainly  must  be  worth  something." 

"Not  to  you,"  returned  Wiley.  "I  saw  Blount 
only  yesterday  and  he  says  it  belongs  to    him." 

"Well,  it  does  not!"  declared  the  Widow,  but  as 
no  one  contradicted  her,  she  took  a  different  tack. 
"Are  you  coming  back?"  she  asked,  smiling  brightly. 
"Are  you  going  to  open  up  the  mine?" 

Wiley's  face  fell  for  a  moment. 

"What  gave  you  that  idea?"  he  inquired  bluffly, 
but  the  Widow  pointed  a  finger  and  laughed  roguishly. 

"I  knew  it,"  she  cried.  "I've  known  it  for 
months — and  I  wish  you  the  best  of  good  luck." 

"Oh,  you  do,  eh?"  grunted  Wiley,  and  stood 
undecided  as  Mrs.  HufF  continued  her  assurances. 
He  had  come  there  to  see  Virginia,  but  business 
was  business  and  the  Widow  seemed  almost  rea- 
sonable. "Huh,  that's  funny,"  he  said  at  last. 
"I  thought  you  had  it  in  for  me.  What's  the 
chance  for  getting  a  quit-claim?" 

"A  quit-claim!'  echoed  the  Widow,  suddenly 
pricking  up  her  ears.  "Why,  what  do  you  want  that 
for,  now?" 

"Well,  you're  going  away,"  explained  Wiley 
quietly,  "and  it  might  come  in  handy,  later,  if  I 
should  want  to  take  over  the  mine.  Of  course 
you've  got  no  title — and  no  stock,  for  that  matter — 
but  I'll  give  you  a  hundred  dollars,  all  the  same." 

"I'll  take  it!"  snapped  the  Widow  and  Wiley 
broke  out  laughing  as  he  reached  for  his  fountain 
pen. 


122  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"Zingo!"  he  grinned  and  then  he  bit  his  lip,  for 
the  Widow  was  quick  to  take  offence.  "Of  course," 
he  went  on,  "this  doesn't  affect  your  stock  if  you 
should  ever  get  it  back  from  Blount.  That  is  still 
your  property,  according  to  law,  and  this  quit- 
claim just  guarantees  me  free  entry  and  possession. 
We'll  get  Virginia  to  witness  the  agreement." 

"All  right,"  bridled  the  Widow  and  watched  him 
cynically  as  he  wrote  out  the  quit-claim  and  check. 
"Oh!  Actually!'  she  mocked  as  he  put  the  check 
in  her  hands.  "I  just  wanted  to  see  if  you  were 
bluffing." 

"Well,  you  know  now,"  he  answered  and  sat 
in  stony  silence  until  she  departed  with  a  trium- 
phant smirk.  Then  he  glanced  at  Virginia  and  mo- 
tioned towards  the  street,  but  she  sighed  and  shook 
her  head. 

"No,"  she  said,  "I  can't  leave  the  house — mother 
is  likely  to  start  any  time,  now." 

"I  suppose  you'll  be  glad  to  go,"  he  suggested 
at  last  as  she  sat  down  and  gathered  up  the  kittens. 
"The  old  town  is  sure  awful  dead." 

"Yes — I  guess  so,"  she  agreed  half-heartedly. 
"You'd  think  so,  but  we  don't  seem  to  go." 

"Is  there  anything  I  can  do  for  you?"  he  inquired 
after  a  silence.     "You  know  what  I  told  you  once, 

XT'  *        '  >» 

Virginia. 

"Yes,  I  know,"  she  answered  bitterly,  "but — Oh, 
I'm  ashamed  to  let  you  help  me,  after  the  way  I 
acted  up  about  Charley." 

"Well,  forget  it,"  he  said  at  length.     "I  guess  I 


A  SACK  OF  CATS  123 

get  kind  of  ugly  when  anyone  doubts  my  good 
faith.  It's  on  account  of  my  father,  and  calling  him 
Honest  John — but  say.  I  forgot  to  tell  the  news!,: 

Virginia  looked  up  inquiringly  and  he  beckoned 
her  into  the  corner  where  no  one  could  overhear 
his  words. 

"Blount  sent  for  me  yesterday — trying  to  sell 
me  the  mine,"  he  whispered  in  her  ear,  "and  I  made 
him  show  me  his  stock.  And  when  I  looked  on 
the  back  of  his  promotion  certificates — the  ones  he 
got  for  promoting  the  mine — I  found  by  the  en- 
dorsements that  he'd  sold  every  one  of  them  before 
or  during  the  panic.  Do  you  see?  They  were 
street  certificates,  passing  from  hand  to  hand  without 
going  to  the  company  for  transfer,  but  every  broker 
that  handled  them  had  written  down  his  name  as 
a  memorandum  of  the  date  and  sale.  Don't  you 
see  what  he  did — he  set  your  father  against  my 
father,  and  my  father  against  yours,  and  all  the 
time,  like  the  crook  he  is,  he  was  selling  them 
both  out  for  a  profit.  I  could  have  killed  him,  the 
old  dog,  only  I  thought  it  would  hurt  him  more  to 
whipsaw  him  out  of  his  mine;  but  listen  now,  Vir- 
ginia, don't  you  think  we  can  be  friends — because 
my  father  never  robbed  anybody  of  a  cent!  He 
thought  more  of  the  Colonel  than  he  did  of  me; 
and  I've  started  out,  even  if  it  is  a  little  late,  to 
prove  that  he  was  on  the  square." 

He  stopped  abruptly,  for  in  his  rush  of  words  he 
had  failed  to  note  the  anger  in  her  eyes,  until  now 
she  turned  and  faced  him.  , 


124  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"Oho!"  she  said,  "so  that's  your  idea — you're 
going  to  whipsaw  Blount  out  of  his  mine?" 

"If  I  can!"  hedged  Wiley.  "But  for  the  Lord's 
sake,  Virginia,  don't  tell  what  I  said  to  your  mother! 
It  won't  make  any  difference,  because  she's  given 
me  a  quit-claim — but  what's  the  use  of  having 
any  trouble  ? " 

"Yes,  sure  enough!"  murmured  Virginia,  with 
cutting  sarcasm.  "She  might  even  demand  her 
rights !" 

"Well,  maybe  you  like  to  fight!"  burst  out  Wiley 
angrily,  "and  if  you  do,  all  right — hop  to  it!  But 
I'll  tell  you  one  thing;  if  you  can't  be  reasonable, 
I  can  be  just  as  bullheaded  as  anybody!" 

"Yes,  you  can,"  she  agreed  and  then  she  sighed 
wearily,  and  waved  it  all  away  with  one  hand. 
"Well,  all  right,"  she  said,  "I'm  so  sick  and  tired  of 
it  that  I  certainly  don't  want  any  more.  And  since 
I've  taken  your  money,  as  you  know  very  well, 
I'm  going  to  go  away  and  give  you  peace.'3 

Her  eyes  blinked  fast,  to  hold  back  the  tears, 
and  once  more  the  son  of  Honest  John  weakened. 

"No,  I  don't  want  you  to  go  away,"  he  answered 
gently,  "but — isn't  there  something  I  can  do  before 
you  go?  I  have  to  fight  my  way,  you  know  that 
yourself,  Virginia;  but  don't  let  that  keep  us  from 
being  friends.  I'm  a  mining  engineer,  and  I  can't 
tell  you  all  my  plans,  because  that  sure  would  put 
me  out  of  business;  but  why  can't  you  trust  me, 
and  then  I'll  trust  you  and — what  is  it  you've  got 
on  your  mind?" 


A  SACK  OF  CATS  125 

He  reached  for  her  hand  but  she  drew  it  away 
and  sat  quiet,  looking  up  the  street. 

"You  wouldn't  understand,"  she  said  with  a 
sigh.  "You're  always  thinking  about  money  and 
mines.  But  a  woman  is  different — I  suppose  you'll 
laugh  at  me,  but  I'm  worried  about  my  cats." 

"About  your  cats!"  he  echoed,  and  she  smiled 
up  at  him  wistfully  and  then  looked  down  at  the 
kittens  in  her  lap. 

"Yes,"  she  said,  "you  know  they  were  left  to 
me  when  the  people  moved  out  of  town,  and  now 
I've  got  eight  of  them  and  I  just  know  that  old 
Charley " 

"He'll  starve  'em  to  death,"  broke  in  Wiley,  in- 
stantly. "I  know  the  old  tarrier  well.  You  give 
'em  to  me,  Virginia,  and  I  swear  I'll  take  care  of 
'em  just  the  same  as  I  would  of — you." 

"Oh,"  smiled  Virginia,  and  then  she  gave  him  her 
hand  and  the  old  hatred  died  out  in  her  eyes. 
"That's  good  of  you,  Wiley,  and  I  certainly  appre- 
ciate it;  because  no  one  would  trust  them  with 
Charley.  I'm  going  to  take  the  two  kittens,  but 
you  can  have  the  rest  of  them  and — you  can  write 
to  me  about  them,  sometimes." 

"Every  week,"  answered  Wiley.  "I'll  take  'em 
back  to  the  ranch  and  the  girls  will  look  after  them 
when  I'm  gone.  We'll  have  to  put  them  in  sacks, 
but  that  will  be  better " 

"Yes,  that's  better  than  starving,"  assented 
Virginia  absently,  and  Wiley  rose  suddenly  to  go. 
There  was  something  indefinable  that  stood  between 


126  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

them,  and  no  effort  of  his  could  break  it  down. 
He  shook  hands  perfunctorily  and  started  down 
the  gallery  and  then  abruptly  he  turned  and  swung 
back. 

"Here,"  he  said,  throwing  her  stock  down  before 
her,  "I  told  you  to  hold  onto  that,  once." 


CHAPTER  XIV 
The  Explosion 

THERE  are  moments  when  his  great  secret 
rises  to  every  man's  lips  and  flutters  to 
wing  away;  but  a  thought,  a  glance,  a  word 
said  or  unsaid,  turns  it  back  and  he  holds  it  more 
closely.  Wiley  Holman  had  a  secret  which  might 
have  changed  Virginia's  life  and  filled  every  day 
with  joy  and  hope,  but  he  shut  down  his  lips  and 
held  it  back  and  spoke  kind  words  instead.  There 
was  a  look  in  her  eyes,  a  brooding  glow  of  resentment 
when  he  spoke  of  his  father  and  hers;  and,  while 
he  spoke  from  the  heart,  she  drooped  her  dark  lashes 
and  was  silent  beyond  her  wont.  He  gave  her  much 
but  she  gave  him  little — and  the  reason  she  was 
sorry  to  leave  Keno  was  the  parting  with  six  suffering 
cats. 

There  were  girls  that  he  knew  who  would  have 
gone  the  limit  and  said  something  about  missing 
Wiley  Holman.  So  he  gave  her  back  her  stock 
and  put  the  cats  in  sacks  and  burnt  up  the  road  to 
the  ranch.  The  next  day  the  news  came  that  he 
had  bonded  the  Paymaster,  but  Wiley  was  far 
away.  He  caught  the  Limited  and  went  speeding 
east,  and  then  he  came  back,  headed  west;    and 

127 


128  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

finally  he  left  Vegas  followed  by  four  lumbering  auto 
trucks  loaded  down  with  freight  and  men.  The 
time  had  come  when  he  must  put  his  fortunes  to 
the  test  and  Keno  awaited  him,  anxiously. 

A  cold,  dusty  wind  raved  down  through  the  pass, 
driving  even  old  Charley  to  shelter;  but  as  the 
procession  moved  in  across  the  desert  the  city  of 
lost  hopes  came  to  life.  Old  grudges  were  forgotten, 
the  dead  past  was  thrust  aside,  and  they  lined  up 
to  bid  him  welcome — Death  Valley  Charley  and 
Heine,  Mrs.  Huff  and  Virginia,  and  the  last  of  ten 
thousand  brave  men.  For  nine  years  they  had 
lived  on,  firm  in  their  faith  in  the  mighty  Pay- 
master; and  now  again,  for  the  hundredth  time, 
the  old  hope  rose  up  in  their  breasts.  The  town 
was  theirs,  they  had  seen  it  grow  from  nothing 
to  a  city  of  brick  and  stone,  and  they  loved  its 
ruins  still.  All  it  needed  was  some  industry  to  put 
blood  into  its  veins  and  it  would  thrill  with  energy 
and  life.  Even  the  Widow  forgot  her  envy  and 
her  anger  at  his  deception  and  greeted  Wiley  Holman 
with  a  smile. 

"Well — hello !"  he  hailed  when  he  saw  her  in 
the  crowd.     "I  thought  you  were  going  away." 

"Not  much!"  she  returned.  "Bring  your  men  in 
to  dinner.    I'm  having  my  dishes  unpacked!" 

"Umm — good!"  responded  Wiley  and,  shrugging 
his  shoulders,  he  led  the  way  on  to  the  mine.  There 
were  other  faces  that  he  would  as  soon  have  seen 
as  the  Widow's  fighting  mien,  and  he  had  brought 
his  own  cook  along;   but  Mrs.  Huff  was  a  lady  and 


THE  EXPLOSION  129 

as  such  it  was  her  privilege  to  claim  her  woman's 
place  in  the  kitchen.  The  town  was  part  hers  and 
the  restaurant  was  her  livelihood;  and  then,  of 
course,  there  was  Virginia.  Having  bidden  her 
good-by,  and  taken  care  of  her  cats,  he  had  recon- 
ciled himself  to  her  loss,  but  not  even  the  smile 
in  her  welcoming  dark  eyes  could  make  him  quite 
forget  the  Widow.  She  was  an  uncertain  quan- 
tity, like  a  stick  of  frozen  dynamite  that  will  ex- 
plode if  it  is  thawed  too  soon;  and  there  was  a 
bombshell  to  come  which  gave  more  than  even 
promise  of  producing  spontaneous  combustion.  So 
Wiley  sighed  as  he  fired  his  cook,  and  told  his  men 
that  they  would  board  with  the  Widow. 

The  first  dinner  was  not  so  much,  consisting 
largely  of  ham  and  eggs  with  the  chickens  out  on 
a  strike;  but  there  was  plenty  of  canned  stuff 
and  the  Widow  promised  wonders  when  she  got 
all  her  boxes  unpacked.  Yet  with  all  her  work 
before  her  and  the  dishes  unwashed,  she  followed 
the  crowd  to  the  mine.  That  was  the  day  of  days, 
from  which  Keno  would  date  time  if  Wiley  made 
his  promise  good;  and  every  man  in  town,  and 
woman  and  child,  went  over  to  watch  them  begin. 
Up  the  old,  abandoned  road  the  auto  trucks  crept 
and  crawled,  and  the  shed  and  the  houses  that  had 
been  prepared  by  Blount  now  gave  shelter  to  his 
hated  successor.  Only  one  man  was  absent  and  he 
sat  on  the  hill-top,  looking  down  like  a  lonely 
coyote.  It  was  Stiff  Neck  George,  that  specter  at 
the  feast,  the  harbinger  of  evil  to  come;    but  as 


i3o  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

Wiley  ordered  the  empty  trucks  to  back  up  against 
the  dump  he  glanced  at  the  hill-top  and  smiled. 

"We'll  take  back  a  load  of  tungsten,"  he  an- 
nounced to  the  drivers  and  the  crowd  of  onlookers 
stared. 

"Just  load  on  that  white  stuff,"  he  explained 
to  the  muckers  and  there  was  a  general  rush  for 
the  dump. 

"What  did  you  say  that  stuff  was?"  inquired 
Death  Valley  Charley,  after  a  hasty  look  at  his 
specimen;  and  Keno  awaited  the  answer,  breathless. 

"Why,  that's  scheelite,  Charley,"  replied  Wiley 
confidentially,  "and  it  runs  about  sixty  per  cent 
tungsten.  It  comes  in  pretty  handy  to  harden 
those  big  guns  that  you  hear  shooting  over  in 
France." 

"Oh,  tungsten,"  muttered  Charley,  blinking  wisely 
at  the  rock  while  everyone  else  grabbed  a  sample. 
"Er — what  do  you  say  they  use  it  for?" 

"Why,  to  harden  high-speed  steel  for  guns  and 
turning-tools — haven't  you  read  all  about  it  in  the 
papers?" 

"How  much  did  you  say  it  was  worth?'  asked 
the  Widow  cautiously,  and  Wiley  knew  that  the 
bombshell  was  ignited. 

"Well,  that's  a  question,"  he  began,  "that  I  can 
answer  better  when  I  get  a  report  on  this  ore.  It's 
all  mixed  up  with  quartz  and  ought  to  be  milled, 
by  rights,  before  I  even  ship  it;  but  since  the  trucks 
are  going  back — well,  if  it  turns  out  the  way  I 
calculate  it  might  bring  me  forty  dollars  a  unit." 


THE  EXPLOSION  131 

"A  unit!'  repeated  the  Widow,  her  voice  low 
and  measured.  "Well,  I'd  just  like  to  know  how 
much  a  unit  is?" 

"A  hundredth  of  the  standard  of  measure — in 
this  case  a  ton  of  ore.  That  would  come  to  twenty 
pounds." 

"Twenty  pounds!  What,  of  this  stuff?  And 
worth  forty  dollars!  Well,  somebody  must  be 
crazy!" 

"Yes,  they're  crazy  for  it,"  answered  Wiley,  "but 
it's  just  a  temporary  rage,  brought  on  by  the  Europ- 
ean war.  The  market  is  likely  to  break  any  time." 

"Why — tungsten!"  murmured  the  Widow.  "Who 
ever  heard  of  such  a  thing?  And  it's  been  lying 
here  idle  all  the  time." 

"How  much  would  that  be  a  ton?"  piped  up  some- 
one in  the  crowd,  and  Mrs.  Huff  put  her  head  to 
one  side. 

"Let's  see,"  she  said,  "forty  dollars  a  unit — that's 
one  hundredth  of  a  ton.  Oh,  pshaw,  it  can't  be 
that.  Let's  see,  twenty  pounds  at  forty  dollars — 
that's  two  dollars  a  pound;  and  two  thousand 
pounds,  that's — oh,  I  don't  believe  it!  I  never 
even  heard  of  tungsten!" 

"No,  it's  a  new  metal,"  replied  Wiley  ever  so 
softly,  "or  rather,  it's  an  acid.  The  technical 
magazines  are  full  of  articles  that  tell  you  all  about 
it.  It's  found  in  wolframite,  and  hubnerite  and 
so  on;  but  this  is  calcium  tungstate,  where  it  is 
found  in  connection  with  lime.  The  others  are 
combined  variously  with  iron  or  manganese " 


132  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"Yes,  manganese,"  broke  in  Charley  importantly. 
"I  know  that  well — and  wolfite  and  all  the  rest. 
It  certainly  is  wonderful  how  they  build  them 
big  cannons  that  will  shoot  for  twenty-two  miles. 
But  it's  tungsden  that  does  it,  tungsden  in  con- 
nection with  electricity  and  the  invisible  rays  of 
raddium." 

"Oh,  shut  up!"  burst  out  the  Widow,  thrusting 
him  rudely  aside  and  seizing  a  fresh  handful  of 
the  rock.  "I  just  can't  hardly  believe  it."  She 
gazed  at  the  glossy  fragments  and  then  at  the 
muckers,  industriously  loading  the  trucks;  and 
then  she  cocked  her  head  on  one  side. 

"Let's  see — two  times  twenty — that's  forty  dol- 
lars a  ton.  No— four  hundred!  Why,  no — jour 
thousand]!9  She  stopped  short  and  made  a  hurried 
re-calculation,  while  a  murmur  ran  through  the 
crowd,  and  then  Death  Valley  Charley  gave  a 
whoop. 

"Four  thousand!"  he  shouted.  "I  told  ye!  I 
knowed  it!     I  claimed  she  was  rich,  all  the  time!' 

"You  did  not!"  snapped  the  Widow,  putting  her 
hand  under  his  jaw  and  forcibly  stifling  his  whoops. 
"You  poor,  crazy  fool,  you  knew  nothing  of  the 
kind — you  sold  out  for  five  thousand  dollars!" 
She  pushed  him  away  with  a  swift,  disdainful  shove 
that  sent  him  reeling  through  the  crowd  and  then 
she  whirled  on  Wiley.  "And  I  suppose,"  she  ac- 
cused, "that  you  knew  all  the  time  that  this  dump 
here  was  nothing  but  tungsten?" 

"Well,  I  had  a  good  idea,"  he  admitted  depre- 


THE  EXPLOSION  133 

catingly,  "although  it's  yet  to  be  tested  out.  This 
is  just  a  sample  shipment " 

"Yes,  a  sample  shipment;  and  at  two  dollars  a 
pound  how  much  will  it  bring  you  in?  Why, 
nothing,  hardly;  a  mere  bagatelle  for  a  gentleman 
and  a  scholar  like  you;  but  what  about  me  and 
poor  Virginia,  slaving  around  to  cook  your  meals? 
What  do  we  get  for  all  our  pains?  Oh,  I  could  kill 
you,  you  scoundrel!  You  knew  it  all  the  time, 
and  yet  you  let  me  sell  those  shares!" 

She  choked  and  Wiley  shifted  uneasily  on  the 
orve-pile,  for  of  course  he  had  done  just  that.  To 
be  sure  he  had  urged  her  to  sell  them  to  his  father 
for  the  sum  of  ten  cents  a  share;  but  the  mention 
of  that  fact,  in  her  heated  condition,  would  probably 
gain  him  nothing  with  the  Widow.  She  was  gasp- 
ing for  breath  and,  if  nothing  intervened,  he  was  in 
for  the  scolding  of  his  life.  But  it  was  all  in  the 
day's  work  and  he  glanced  about  for  Virginia,  to 
seek  comfort  from  her  smiling  eyes.  She  would 
understand  now  why  he  had  given  her  back  her 
stock,  and  advised  her  from  the  start  not  to  sell; 
but— he  looked  again,  for  her  dark  orbs  were  blazing 
and  her  lips  were  moving  as  with  threats. 

"You  knew  it  all  the  time!"  screamed  the  Widow 
in  a  frenzy,  but  Wiley  barely  heard  her.  He  heard 
her  words,  for  they  assaulted  his  ears  in  a  series  of 
screeching  crescendos,  but  it  was  the  unspoken 
message  from  the  lips  of  Virginia  that  cut  him  to  the 
quick.  He  had  expected  nothing  else  from  the 
abusive  Widow;    but  certainly,  after  all  the  kind- 


134  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

nesses  he  had  done  her,  he  was  entitled  to  something 
better  from  Virginia.  Not  only  had  he  warned  her 
to  hold  on  to  her  stock,  at  a  time  when  one  word 
might  ruin  him;  but  he  had  bought  it  from  Charley 
and  then  given  it  back,  to  show  how  he  valued  her 
friendship.  And  yet  now,  while  the  others  were 
shouting  with  joy  or  rushing  to  stake  out  more 
claims,  she  stood  by  the  Widow  and  with  cruel, 
voiceless  words  added  her  burden  to  this  paean 
of  hate.    And  she  looked  just  like  her  mother! 

"You  shut  up,  you  old  cat!"  he  burst  out  fiercely, 
as  the  Widow  rushed  in  to  assault  him.  "Shut 
your  mouth  and  get  off  my  ground!"  He  drew 
back  his  palm  to  launch  a  swift  blew  and  then  his 
hand  fell  slack.  "Well,  holler  then,"  he  said, 
"what  do  I  give  a  dam'  whether  you  like  the  deal 
or  not?  You'd  be  yammering,  just  the  same. 
But  it's  lucky  for  you  you're  a  woman." 


CHAPTER  XV 
The  God  of  Ten  Per  Cent 

IT  was  the  nature  of  the  Widow  to  resort  to 
violence  in  every  crisis  of  her  life  and  at  each 
fresh  memory  of  the  effrontery  of  Wiley  Hol- 
man  she  searched  the  empyrean  for  words.  From 
the  very  start  he  had  come  to  Keno  with  the  inten- 
tion of  stealing  her  mine.  First  it  was  his  father, 
who  pitied  her  so  much  he  was  willing  to  buy 
her  shares;  then  it  was  the  tax  sale,  and  he  had 
sneaked  in  at  night  and  tried  to  jump  the  Pay- 
master;, then  he  had  deceived  her  and  stood 
in  with  Blount  to  make  her  sell  all  her  stock  for  a 
song;  and  then,  oh  hateful  thought,  he  had  actually 
sold  out  to  Blount  for  a  hundred  dollars,  cash; 
only  to  put  Blount  in  the  hole  and  buy  the  mine 
back  again  for  the  price  of  the  ore  on  the  dump! 

The  Widow  poured  forth  her  charges  without 
pausing  for  breath  or  noticing  that  her  audience  had 
fled,  and  as  Wiley  went  on  about  his  business  she 
raised  her  voice  to  a  scream.  The  rest  of  the 
Kenoites,  and  some  of  the  workmen,  were  out 
staking  the  nearby  hills;  but  whenever  she  stopped 
she  thought  of  some  fresh  duplicity  which  made 
reason  totter  on  its  throne.  He  had  refused  half 
the  mine  from  Blount  as  a  gift  and  then  turned 

135 


136  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

around  and  bought  it  all.  He  had  refused  to  buy 
her  shares,  time  and  again,  when  he  knew  they 
were  worth  a  million;  and  then,  to  cap  the  climax, 
he  had  let  her  sell  to  Blount  and  bought  them  for 
nothing  from  him.  And  even  Death  Valley  Charley 
— poor,  crazy,  brain-sick  Charley — he  had  robbed 
him  of  all  ten  of  his  claims! 

It  was  a  damning  arraignment,  and  Wiley's  men 
listened  grimly,  but  he  only  twisted  his  lip  and 
nodded  his  head  ironically.  With  one  eye  on  his 
accuser,  who  was  becoming  hysterical,  he  hustled 
the  ore  into  the  empty  trucks  and  started  them  off 
down  the  road;  and  then,  as  Virginia  led  her  mother 
away,  he  re-engaged  his  cook.  They  had  supper 
that  night  in  the  old,  abandoned  cook-house;  and, 
so  wonderfully  do  great  minds  work,  that  a  com- 
plete bill  of  grub  was  discovered  among  the  freight. 
Not  only  flour  and  beans  and  canned  goods  and 
potatoes,  but  baking  powder  and  matches  and  salt; 
and  the  cook  observed  privately  that  you'd  think 
Mr.  Holman  had  intended  to  make  camp  all  the 
time.  It  is  thus  that  foresight  leaps  ahead  into 
the  future  and  robs  life  of  half  its  ills;  and  the 
Widow  Huff,  still  unpacking  plates  and  saucers, 
was  untroubled  by  clamorous  guests.  She  had  had 
her  say  and,  as  far  as  Wiley  was  concerned,  there 
were  no  more  favors  to  be  expected. 

Yet  the  Widow  was  wise  in  the  ways  of  mining 
camps  and  she  prepared  to  feed  a  horde — and  the 
next  day  they  came,  by  automobile  and  motor- 
truck, until  every  table  was  filled.     The  rush  was 


THE  GOD  OF  TEN  PER  CENT      137 

on,  for  four-thousand  dollar  ore  will  bring  men 
from  the  ends  of  the  world.  Before  the  sun  had 
set  in  the  red  glow  of  a  sandstorm  the  desert  was 
staked  for  miles.  From  the  chimneys  of  old  houses, 
long  abandoned  to  the  rats,  rose  the  smokes  of 
many  fires  and  the  rush  and  whine  of  passing 
automobiles  told  of  races  to  distant  grounds.  All 
the  old  mines  in  the  district,  and  of  neighboring 
districts  where  the  precious  " heavy  spar"  occurred, 
were  re-located — or  jumped,  as  the  case  might  be — 
and  held  to  await  future  developments.  The  first 
thing  was  to  stake.  They  could  prospect  the  ground 
later.  Tungsten  now  was  king.  Men  who  had 
never  heard  the  name,  or  pronounced  it  haltingly, 
now  spoke  learnedly  of  tungsten  tests;  and  he  was 
a  poor  prospector  indeed  who  lacked  his  bottle  of 
hydrochloric  acid  and  his  test-tubes  and  strip  of 
shiny  tin.  They  swarmed  about  the  base  of  the 
old  Paymaster  dump  like  bees  around  a  broken 
pot  of  honey  and  when,  pounded  up  and  boiled 
in  the  hydrochloric  acid,  the  solution  bit  the  tin 
and  turned  bright  blue,  there  wTas  many  a  hearty 
curse  at  the  fickle  hand  of  fortune  which  had  led 
Wiley  Holman  to  that  treasure. 

It  had  lain  there  for  years,  trampled  down  6eneath 
their  feet.  Now  this  kid,  this  mining-school  pros- 
pector, had  come  back  and  grabbed  it  all.  Not 
only  the  Paymaster  with  its  tons  of  mined  ore,  but 
the  ten  claims  to  the  north,  all  showing  good  scheelite, 
which  Death  Valley  Charley  had  located — he  had 
held   them   down   as   well.     Two   hundred    dollars 


138  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

down  and  a  carefully  worded  option  had  tied  them 
up  for  five  thousand  dollars,  and  there  were  tung- 
sten-mad men  in  that  crowd  of  boomers  who  would 
have  given  fifty  thousand  apiece.  They  came  up 
to  the  mine  where  Wiley  was  working  and  waved 
their  money  in  his  face,  and  then  wTent  off  grumbling 
as  he  refused  all  offers  and  went  busily  about  his 
work.  So  they  came,  and  went,  until  at  last  the 
great  wave  brought  Samuel  J.  Blount  himself. 

He  came  up  the  trail  smiling,  for  there  was  nothing 
to  be  gained  by  making  belated  complaints;  but 
when  he  saw  the  pile  of  precious  white  rock  the 
smile  died  away  in  spite  of  him.  It  was  the  boast 
of  Blount  that,  buying  or  selling,  he  always  held 
out  his  ten  per  cent;  but  that  pile  of  ore  had  cost 
him  dear  and  he  had  sold  it  out  for  next  to  nothing. 
And  it  was  his  other  boast  that  he  could  read  men's 
hearts  when  they  came  to  buy  or  sell,  but  here  was 
a  young  man  who  had  seen  him  coming  twice  and 
gained  the  advantage  both  times.  So  the  smile 
grew  longer  in  spite  of  his  best  efforts  and  when 
at  last  he  found  Wiley  Holman  in  the  office  of  the 
company  it  was  perilously  near  a  sulk. 

"Well,  good  morning,  Wiley,"  he  began  with 
unction,  and  then  he  looked  grievously  about.  The 
expensive  gas  engine  which  he  had  bought  and 
installed  was  already  unwatering  the  mine;  spare 
timbers  were  going  down,  the  new  blacksmith- 
shop  was  running  and  Wiley  was  sitting  at  his  desk. 
Everything  was  there,  just  the  way  he  had  left  it, 
except  that  it  belonged  to  Wiley.     Blount  heaved 


THE  GOD  OF  TEN  PER  CENT   139 

a  heavy  sigh  and  then  set  his  features  resolutely, 
for  the  battle  was  not  over  yet.  To  be  sure  the 
mine  was  bonded  for  a  measly  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  his  stock  was  tied  up  under  an  option; 
but  many  things  can  happen  in  six  months'  time 
and  Wiley  was  only  a  boy.  Granted  that  he  was 
a  miner  and  understood  ore,  there  is  such  a  thing 
as  an  "Act  of  God."  Cables  break  without  reason, 
mines  cave  and  timbers  fall;  and  certainly  if  there 
is  a  God  of  Ten  Per  Cent  his  just  wrath  would  be 
visited  upon  Wiley.  Blount  knew  that  great  god 
and  worshipped  him  continually  and  he  felt  certain 
that  something  would  happen,  for  when  boys 
out  of  college  take  money  away  from  bank  presidents 
it  comes  dangerously  close  to  sacrilege. 

"Well,  well,,,  murmured  Blount,  "quite  a  change, 
quite  a  change.  Are  you  sure  that  stuff*  is  tungsten, 
Wiley?" 

"Yes,"  responded  Wiley,  affecting  a  becoming 
modesty  to  cover  up  his  youthful  smirk.  "Would 
you  like  to  see  it  tested?" 

"Very  much,"  answered  Blount,  and  followed  after 
him  to  the  assay  office,  which  Wiley  had  hurriedly 
fitted  up.  Wiley  took  a  piece  of  scheelite  and 
pounded  it  in  a  mortar  until  it  was  fine  as  flour, 
then  dropped  it  into  a  test-tube  and  boiled  it  over 
a  flame  in  a  solution  of  hydrochloric  and  nitric 
acids. 

"Now,"  he  said,  when  the  tungstic  acid  had  been 
dissolved,  and  he  had  dropped  a  small  bar  of  tin  into 
the  solution.     It  turned  a  dark  blue  and   Blount 


i4o  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

sighed  again,  for  he  had  looked  up  the  test  in  ad- 
vance. "If  it  turns  blue,"  a  prospector  had  told 
him,  "like  the  color  of  me  overalls,  then,  sure  as 
hell,  it's  tungsten/' 

"Well,  well,"  commented  Blount,  gazing  mildly 
about,  for  great  men  do  not  stop  to  repine,  "and 
what  do  you  use  these  big  scales  for?" 

"That's  for  the  quantitative  test,"  explained 
Wiley  importantly.  "By  weighing  the  sample  first 
and  extracting  the  tungsten  we  get  the  percentage, 
when  it's  been  filtered  and  dried  and  weighed  again, 
of  the  tungstic  acid  in  the  ore.  But  it's  quite  an 
elaborate  process." 

"Yes,  yes,"  assented  Blount,  still  managing  to 
smile  pleasantly.  "Rather  out  of  my  line,  I  guess. 
What  per  cent  do  your  samples  average?" 

"Oh,  between  sixty  and  seventy  when  I  pick  my 
specimens.  I'm  rigging  up  a  jigger  to  separate 
the  ore  until  I  can  get  capital  to  start  up  the  mill.  It 
ought  to  be  milled,  by  rights,  and  only  the  con- 
centrates shipped;  but  while  I'm  getting  started " 

"Oh,  draw  on  me — any  time,"  broke  in  Blount, 
smiling  radiantly.  "I'd  be  only  too  glad  to  accom- 
modate you.  That's  my  business,  you  know; 
loaning  out  money  on  good  security,  and  you're 
good  up  to  fifty  thousand  dollars." 

"Do  you  mean  it?"  demanded  Wiley  after  a 
startled  silence,  and  Blount  slapped  him  heartily  on 
the  back. 

"Just  try  me,"  he  said.  "I've  been  looking  up 
the  market  and  tungsten  is  simply  booming.     It's 


THE  GOD  OF  TEN  PER  CENT   141 

quoted  at  forty-five  for  sixty  per  cent  concentrates, 
and  you  must  have  tons  and  tons  on  the  dump." 

"Yes,  lot's  of  it,"  admitted  Wiley,  "and  say, 
now  that  you  mention  it,  I  believe  I'll  take  you  up. 
I  need  a  little  money  to  install  some  machinery  and 
get  the  old  mill  to  running.  How  about  ten  thou- 
sand dollars?" 

"Why — all  right,"  assented  Blount,  after  a 
moment's  thought.  "Of  course  you'll  give  some 
security?" 

"Oh,  sure,"  agreed  Wiley.  "My  option  on  the 
mine — I  suppose  that's  what  you're  after?" 

Blount  blinked  for  a  moment,  for  such  plain 
speaking  was  surprising  from  one  as  shrewd  as 
Wiley,  but  he  summoned  up  his  smile  and  nodded. 
"Why — why,  yes,  that's  all  right.  Say  one  per 
cent  a  month — payable  monthly — those  are  our 
ordinary  short-time  terms." 

"Suits  me,"  said  Wiley.  "But  no  cut-throat 
clauses — none  of  this  Widow  Huff  line  of  stuff. 
If  I  forget  to  pay  my  interest  that  doesn't  make 
the  principal  due  and  the  security  forfeit  and  so 
on,  world  without  end." 

"Oh,  no;  no,  certainly,"  cried  Blount  with 
alacrity.  "We'll  make  it  a  flat  loan,  if  you  like,  and 
endeavor  to  treat  you  right.  Of  course  you'll 
start  a  checking  account  and " 

"No,"  said  Wiley,  "if  I  borrow  the  money  I'll 
take  it  out  of  your  bank  and  put  it  in  another, 
right  away.  I  never  let  friendship  interfere  with 
business  or  warp  my  business  judgment." 


142  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 


"Yes,  but  Wiley,"  protested  Blount,  "what  dif- 
ference does  it  make?  Isn't  my  bank  perfectly 
safe  and  sound?" 

"Undoubtedly,"  returned  Wiley,  "but — do  you 
happen  to  remember  a  little  check  for  four  hun- 
dred dollars?  It  was  made  out  by  me  in  favor 
of  Death  Valley  Charley  and  they  cashed  it  through 
your  bank — Virginia  Huff,  you  know — in  pay-  j 
ment  for  Paymaster  stock.  Well,  if  you're  going 
to  keep  track  of  my  business  like  that " 

"Oh,  no,  no,"  exclaimed  Blount,  suddenly  remem- 
bering the  means  by  which  he  had  detected  Wiley's 
purchase  of  Virginia's  stock,  "you  misunderstand 
me,  entirely.  If  you  want  to  wait  a  few  days  for 
the  money  you  are  welcome  to  put  it  anywhere.'3 

"Well,  hold  on,"  began  Wiley.     "Now  maybe  I'd   1 
better  go  to  the  other  bank " 

"Oh,  no,  no,  no,"  protested  Blount,  "I  wouldn't 
hear  of  it.  I'll  write  you  the  check,  this  minute. 
On  your  personal  note — that's  good  enough  for 
me.    You  can  put  up  the  collateral  later." 

"Well,  let's  think  this  over,"  objected  Wiley 
cannily.  "I  don't  like  to  put  up  that  option  for 
security.  That  bond  and  lease  is  worth  half  a 
million  dollars  and " 

"Just  give  me  your  note,"  broke  in  Blount 
hurriedly,  "and  hurry  up — here  comes  Mrs.  Huff." 

"All  right,"  cried  Wiley,  and  scribbled  out  the 
note  while  Blount  was  writing  the  check. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
A  Show-down  with  the  Widow 

IF  the  benevolent  Samuel  Blount  could  have 
seen  Wiley  Holman's  monthly  statement  from 
that  mysterious  "other  bank"  he  would  have 
crushed  him  with  one  blow  of  his  ready,  financial 
club  and  gone  off  with  both  bond-and-lease  and 
option.  But  the  pure,  serene  fire  in  those  first 
water  diamonds  which  graced  the  ring  on  Wiley's 
hand — that  dazzled  Samuel  J.  Blount  as  it  had 
dazzled  the  Widow  and  many  a  store-keeper  in 
Vegas.  For  it  is  hardly  to  be  expected  that  a 
man  with  such  a  ring  will  have  a  bank  account 
limited  to  three  figures,  any  more  than  it  is  expected 
that  a  man  with  so  little  capital  will  be  sitting  in 
a  game  with  millionaires.  But  Wiley  was  sitting 
in,  holding  his  cards  well  against  his  chest,  and 
already  he  had  won  ten  thousand  dollars.  Which 
is  one  of  the  reasons  why  all  mining  promoters 
wear  diamonds — and  poker  faces  as  well. 

Yet  Blount  was  playing  a  game  which  had  once 
won  him  a  million  dollars  from  just  such  plungers 
as  Wiley,  and  if  he  also  smiled  as  he  tucked  away 
the  note  it  was  not  without  excuse.  There  had 
been  a  time  when  this  boy's  father  had  sat  in  the 
game  with  Blount  and  now  he  was  engaged  in  raising 

143 


i44  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

cattle  on  a  ranch  far  back  in  the  hills.  And  Colonel 
Huff,  that  prince  of  royal  plungers,  had  surrendered 
at  last  to  the  bank.  It  was  twelve  per  cent,  com- 
pounded monthly,  with  demand,  protest  and  notice 
waived,  which  had  brought  about  this  miracle  of 
wealth;  and  since  it  is  well  known  that  history 
repeats  itself,  Mr.  Blount  could  see  Wiley's  finish. 
The  thing  to  do  first  was  to  regain  his  confidence 
and  get  him  into  his  power  and  then,  at  the  first 
sign  of  financial  embarrassment,  to  call  his  notes 
and  freeze  him  out.  Such  were  the  intentions  of 
the  benevolent  Mr.  Blount — if  the  Widow  Huff 
did  not  kill  him. 

She  came  toiling  up  the  trail,  followed  by  Virginia 
and  Death  Valley  Charle}^  and  a  crowd  of  curious 
citizens;  and  as  they  awaited  the  shock,  Blount 
shuddered  and  smiled  nervously,  for  he  knew  that 
she  would  demand  back  her  stock.  Wiley  shuddered 
too,  but  instead  of  smiling  he  clenched  his  jaws 
like  a  vise;  and  as  the  Widow  entered  he  signaled 
a  waiting  guard,  who  followed  in  close  behind  her. 
She  halted  before  his  desk,  one  hand  on  her  hip 
the  other  on  the  butt  of  a  six-shooter,  and  glanced 
insolently  from  one  to  the  other. 

"  Aha!"  she  exclaimed,  "so  you're  talking  it  over, — 
how  to  take  advantage  of  a  poor  widow!  But  I 
want  to  tell  you  now,  and  I  don't  care  who  knows 
it,  I've  been  imposed  upon  long  enough.  Here 
you  sit  in  your  office,  both  of  you  worth  up  into 
the  millions,  and  discuss  the  division  of  your  spoils; 
while  the    daughter    and   the  widow  of  the   man 


A  SHOW-DOWN  WITH  THE  WIDOW    145 

that  found  this  mine  are  slaving  away  in  a  res- 
taurant." 

"Yes,  I'm  sorry,  Mrs.  Huff,"  interposed  Blount, 
smiling  gently.  "We  were  just  discussing  your  case. 
But  it  often  happens  that  the  best  of  us  err  in 
judgment,  and  in  this  case  I've  been  caught  worse 
than  you  were.  Yes,  I  must  admit  that  when  I 
first  heard  about  this  tungsten  and  realized  that 
I  had  sold  out  for  nothing,  I  was  moved  for  the 
moment    to    resent    it;     but    under    the    circum- 


stances  " 


"Aw,  what  are  you  talking  about?'  demanded 
the  Widow  scornfully.  "Don't  you  think  I  can  see 
through  your  game?  You  pretend  to  be  enemies 
until  you  get  hold  of  my  stock  and  then  you  come  out 
into  the  open.  I  always  knew  you  were  partners, 
but  now  I  can  prove  it;  because  here  you  are,  thick 
as  thieves." 

"Yes,  we're  friendly,"  admitted  Blount  with  a 
painful  smile  at  Wiley,  "but  Wiley  owns  the  mine. 
That  is,  he  owns  a  bond  and  lease  on  the  property, 
with  the  option  of  buying  for  fifty  thousand  dollars. 
And  then  besides  that,  I  regret  to  say,  he  has  an 
option  on  all  my  stock." 

"Oh!  Yes!"  scoffed  the  Widow.  "You've  been 
cleaned  by  this  whipper-snapper  that's  just  a  few 
months  out  of  college!  He's  taken  away  your 
mine  and  your  stock  and  everything — but  of  course 
you  don't  mind  a  little  thing  like  that.  But  what 
I  want  to  know,  and  I  came  here  to  find  out,  is 
which  of  you  has  got  my  stock — because  I'll  tell 


i46  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

you   right   now "   she  whipped   out   her  pistol 

and  brandished  it  in  the  air — "I'll  tell  you  right 
now  I  intend  to  get  it  back  or  kill  the  one  or  both 
of  you!" 

Blount's  lips  framed  a  lie,  and  then  he  glanced 
at  Wiley,  who  was  standing  with  his  hand  by  his 
gun. 

"Well,  now,  Mrs.  Huff,"  he  began  at  a  venture, 
"I — perhaps  this  can  all  be  arranged." 

"No!  I  want  that  stock!"  cried  the  Widow  in 
hot  anger,  "and  I'm  going  to  get  it,  too!" 

"Why — why  yes,"  stammered  Blount,  "but  you 
see  it  was  this  way — I  had  no  idea  of  the  value 
of  the  stock.  And  so  when  Wiley  came  to  see 
me  I  gave  him  an  option  on  it  for — well,  I  believe 
it  was  five  cents  a  share." 

"Ah!"  triumphed  the  Widow,  whirling  to  train 
her  gun  on  Wiley,  "so  now  I've  got  you,  Mr.  Man! 
You've  been  four-flushing  long  enough  but  I've  got 
you  dead  to  rights,  and  I  want — that — Paymaster 
■ — stock!" 

She  threw  down  on  him  awkwardly,  but  as  the 
pistol  was  not  cocked,  Wiley  only  curled  his  lip 
and  smiled  indulgently,  with  a  restraining  glance 
at  his  guard. 

"Yes,  Mrs.  Huff,"  he  agreed  quite  calmly,  "I 
don't  doubt  you  want  it  back.  You  want  lots  of 
things  that  you'll  never  get  from  me  by  coming 
around  with  these  gun-plays.  So  put  up  that 
gun  before  you  pull  it  off  and  I'll  tell  you  about 
your  husband's  stock." 


A  SHOW-DOWN  WITH  THE  WIDOW    147 

"My  husband's  stock!"  cried  the  Widow  in 
surprise,  letting  the  six-shooter  wobble  down  to 
her  side.  "Well  I'd  just  like  to  tell  you  that  that 
stock  is  mine,  and  furthermore " 

"Oh,  yes!  Sure!  Sure!"  shrugged  Wiley  scorn- 
fully. "Of  course  you  know  it  all!  But  that  stock 
wasn't  yours,  and  you  couldn't  transfer  it,  and  so 
I  didn't  take  any  option  on  it.  It's  in  the  bank 
yet;  and  if  you  want  to  get  it,  why,  here's  the  man 
to  talk  to." 

He  jerked  his  thumb  towards  the  cringing  Blount, 
and  exchanged  scornful  glances  with  Virginia.  She 
was  standing  behind  her  mother  and  her  glance 
seemed  to  say  that  he  was  passing  the  buck  again; 
but  his  feeling  for  Virginia  had  suffered  a  great 
change  and  he  replied  to  her  head-toss  with  a 
sneer. 

"Now — now  Wiley!"  protested  Blount,  rising 
weakly  to  his  feet  and  regarding  his  pseudo-partner 
reproachfully,  "you  know  very  well " 

"Gimme  that  stock!"  snapped  the  Widow,  sud- 
denly cocking  the  heavy  pistol  and  throwing  down 
savagely  on  Wiley;  and  then  things  began  to  happen. 
The  watchful  guard,  whc  had  been  standing  at  her 
side,  reached  over  and  struck  up  the  gun  and  as 
it  went  off  with  a  bang,  shooting  a  hole  in  the 
ceiling,  he  seized  it  and  wrenched  it  away. 

"You're  under  arrest,  Madam,"  he  said  with 
some  asperity,  and  flashed  his  officer's  star. 

"Well,  who  are  you,  sir?"  demanded  the  Widow, 
vainly  attempting  to  thrust  him  aside. 


i48  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"I'm  a  deputy  sheriff,  ma'am,"  replied  the  officer 
respectfully,  "and  I'd  advise  you  not  to  resist. 
It'll  be  assault  with  intent  to  kill." 

"Why — I  wouldn't  kill  anybody!"  exclaimed  the 
Widow  breathlessly.  "I  was — I  didn't  intend  to  do 
anything." 

"Will  you  swear  out  a  warrant?"  inquired  the 
deputy  and  Wiley  nodded  his  head. 

"You  bet  I  will,"  he  said,  "this  is  getting  mo- 
notonous.    She  took  a  shot  at  me,  once  before." 

"Oh,  Wiley!"  wailed  the  Widow  suddenly  weak- 
ening in  the  pinch.     "You  know  I  never  meant  it!" 

"Well,  maybe  not,"  replied  Wiley  evenly,  "but 
you  hit  me  in  the  leg." 

"But  he  pulled  off  my  gun!"  charged  the  Widow 
angrily,  "I  never  went  to  do  it!" 

"Well,  come  on;"  said  the  deputy,  "you  can  ex- 
plain to  the  judge."  And  he  took  her  by  the  arm. 
She  went  out,  sobbing  violently,  and  in  the  suc- 
ceeding silence  Wiley  found  himself  confronted 
by  Virginia.  He  had  seen  her  before  when  the 
wild  light  of  battle  shot  forth  from  her  angry  eyes 
but  now  there  was  a  glow  of  soft,  feminine  reproach 
and  the  faintest  suggestion  of  appeal. 

"Oh,  Wiley  Holman!"  she  cried,  "I'll  never  for- 
give you!  What  do  you  mean  by  treating  Mother 
like  this?" 

"I  mean,"  replied  Wiley,  "that  I've  taken  about 
enough,  and  now  we'll  leave  it  to  the  law.  If  your 
mother  is  right  the  judge  will  let  her  go,  but  I 
guess  it's  come  to  a  show-down." 


A  SHOW-DOWN  WITH  THE  WIDOW    149 

"What?  Are  you  going  to  let  them  put  my 
mother  in  jail?'  she  asked  with  tremulous  awe, 
and  then  she  burst  into  tears.  "You  ought  to 
be  ashamed!"  she  broke  out  impetuously.  "I  wish 
my  father  was  here!" 

"Yes,  so  do  I,"  answered  Wiley  gravely.  "I'd 
be  dealing  with  a  gentleman,  then.  But  if  your 
mother  thinks,  just  because  she  is  a  woman,  she 
can  run  amuck  with  a  gun,  then  she  gives  up  all 
right  to  be  treated  like  a  lady  and  she  has  to  take 
what's  coming  to  her." 

"But  Wiley!"  she  appealed,  "just  let  her  off  this 
time  and  she'll  never  do  it  again.  She's  over- 
wrought and  nervous  and " 

"Nope,"  said  Wiley,  "it's  gone  past  me  now — 
she'll  have  to  answer  before  the  judge.  But  if  you 
think  you  can  restrain  her  I'll  be  willing  to  let  it 
go  and  have  her  bound  over  to  keep  the  peace." 

"Oh,  that'll  be  fine!  If  she  just  promises  not 
to  bother  you  and " 

"And  puts  up  a  five-thousand-dollar  bond,"  added 
Wiley.  "And  the  next  time  she  makes  a  gun-play 
or  comes  around  and  threatens  me  the  five  thou- 
sand dollars  is  gone." 

"Oho!"  she  accused,  "so  that's  your  scheme! 
You've  been  framing  this  up,  all  the  time!" 

"Sure,"  nodded  Wiley,  with  his  old  cynical 
smile,  "I  just  love  to  be  shot  at.  I  got  her  to  come 
over  on  purpose." 

"Well,  I'll  bet  you  did!"  cried  Virginia  excitedly. 
"Didn't  you  have  that  officer  right  there?     You've 


150  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

just  framed  this  up  to  rob  us.  And  how  are  we 
going  to  give  a  five-thousand-dollar  bond  when 
you  know  we  haven't  a  cent?  Oh,  I — I  hate 
you,  Wiley  Holman;  and  if  you  put  my  mother  in 
jail  I'll — I'll  come  back  and  kill  you,  myself!" 

She  stamped  her  foot  angrily,  but  a  light  leapt 
into  Wiley's  eyes  such  as  had  flamed  there  when 
he  had  faced  Stiff  Neck  George. 

"Very  well,"  he  said,  "if  you  people  think  you 
can  rough-house  me  I'll  show  you  I  can  rough  it, 
myself.  I've  tried  to  be  friendly  and  to  give  you 
the  best  of  it;  but  now  it's  all  off,  for  good.  I 
hate  to  fight  a  woman,  but " 

"You  do  not!"  she  challenged.  "You're  a  coward, 
that's  what  you  are!  And  you  can  take  your  old 
stock  back!" 

She  drew  a  package  from  her  bosom  and  slammed 
it  spitefully  on  the  table  and  rushed  out  after  her 
mother.  Wiley  picked  up  the  envelope  and  regarded 
it  absently,  his  lip  curling  to  a  twisted  smile.  It  was 
the  package  of  stock  which  he  had  bought  from 
Death  Valley  Charley  and  returned,  as  a  gift,  to 
Virginia. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
Peace — and  the  Price 

IN  the  justice  court  at  Vegas  the  Widow  Huff 
met  her  match  in  the  person  of  the  magis- 
trate, who  warned  her  peremptorily  that  if 
she  interrupted  again  he  would  commit  her  for 
contempt  of  court.  Then  the  bailiff  smote  his 
desk  a  resounding  blow  and  there  was  silence 
in  the  presence  of  the  law.  It  was  a  new  thing 
to  her,  this  power  called  the  law  and  that  accuser 
of  all  offenders,  The  People;  and  before  she  had 
finished  she  learned  the  great  truth  that  no  one 
is  above  the  law.  It  governs  us  all  and,  but  for 
the  mercy  of  the  courts,  would  land  most  of  our 
hot-heads  in  jail.  But  though  it  was  proved  beyond 
the  peradventure  of  a  doubt  that  the  Widow  had 
attempted  violence  it  was  tacitly  understood  that, 
being  a  woman,  there  would  be  no  actual  com- 
mitment. 

Wiley  Holman  came  forward  and  informed  the 
court  that  the  defendant  had  threatened  his  life  and 
upon  two  occasions  and  had  made  assaults  upon  his 
person  with  the  avowed  intention  of  killing  him. 
Upon  being  questioned  by  the  judge  he  admitted 

151 


1 52  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

recognizing  a  shot-gun,  and  three  buckshot  which 
had  been  extracted  from  his  leg;  but  in  a  voluntary- 
statement  he  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  de- 
fendant was  hardly  responsible.  At  the  same  time, 
he  stated,  since  his  place  of  business  was  not  far 
from  the  defendant's  home,  he  would  respectfully 
request  that  she  be  placed  in  custody  and  bound 
over  to  keep  the  peace.  The  testimony  of  the 
officer  and  of  other  witnesses  left  no  doubt  as  to 
the  existence  of  a  threat  and  after  the  Widow  had 
made  a  chastened  speech  she  was  placed  in  the 
custody  of  the  sheriff. 

To  this  humiliation  was  added  the  greater  pang 
of  depositing  all  her  jewels  with  her  bondsmen 
and  when  it  was  over  and  she  was  back  in  her 
home  the  Widow's  proud  spirit  was  broken.  She 
retired  to  the  kitchen  and  the  balm  of  a  great 
peace  was  laid  upon  tumultuous  Keno.  For  years 
the  bold  ego  of  Colonel  Huff's  wife  had  dominated 
the  very  life  of  the  camp,  but  the  son  of  Honest 
John  had  at  last  found  a  way  of  putting  her  anger 
in  leash.  Rage  as  she  mfght  in  the  privacy  of 
her  kitchen,  or  pour  out  her  woes  to  the  neighbors, 
when  Wiley  Holman  came  by  she  turned  away  her 
face  and  allowed  him  to  pass  in  silence.  And  Wiley 
himself  never  gave  her  a  glance,  nor  Virginia  when 
he  met  her  in  the  street;  for  the  memory  of  their 
insults  was  still  hot  in  his  brain,  and  all  he  asked 
for  was  peace. 

He  was  safe,  at  last,  safe  to  remodel  the  mill 
and  bring  up  the  ore  from  the  mine;    but  as  his 


PEACE— AND  THE  PRICE  153 

work  grew  and  prospered  the  anger  died  in  his  breast 
and  his  heart  turned  back  to  Virginia.  She  was 
quiet  now,  with  averted  eyes  and  the  sad,  brooding 
face  of  a  nun;  and  she  worked  early  and  late  in 
the  crowded  dining-room,  serving  meals  to  the 
hard-rock  miners.  He  had  closed  down  his  cook- 
house to  give  them  some  patronage,  when  the  first 
mad  rush  of  prospectors  was  past;  but  though 
they  fed  his  men  and  took  the  money  that  he  had 
paid  them,  they  owned  no  obligation  to  him. 

In  the  Paymaster  the  pumps  were  working 
steadily  now,  clearing  the  water  from  the  sub- 
merged passages,  and  as  the  first  checks  came  back 
in  payment  for  his  tungsten  he  ordered  more  tim- 
bers and  men.  There  was  plenty  of  ore  on  the 
dump  for  the  moment  but,  while  he  separated  it 
from  the  waste  and  shipped  it  to  town,  he  caught 
up  the  falling  ground  in  the  drifts  and  prepared 
to  stope  out  the  scheelite.  In  the  old,  dismantled 
mill  he  had  a  crew  working  over-time,  installing 
a  rock-crusher  and  a  concentrating  plant;  and 
every  truck  that  brought  out  timbers  and  supplies 
took  back  its  tons  of  ore.  The  price  of  tungsten 
leapt  from  forty  dollars  a  unit  to  sixty  and  sixty- 
five,  and  rival  buyers  clamored  for  his  ore;  the 
mills  treated  it  for  almost  nothing  in  order  to 
get  control  of  it  and  his  credit  was  Ai  at  the  bank 
— but  when  he  passed  Virginia  she  turned  her  face 
away  and  his  heart  turned  heavy  as  lead. 

It  was  the  price  of  success,  and  Wiley  recog- 
nized it,  but  he  rebelled  against  his  fate.     What 


154  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

fault  was  it  of  his  that  her  father  and  his  father 
had  fallen  out  over  the  mine?  He  had  shown  by 
the  stock  that  the  treachery  had  been  Blount's 
and  neither  of  them  was  to  blame.  What  fault 
was  it  of  his  that  she  had  a  shrewish  mother  who 
was  bent  upon  ruining  her  life?  Had  he  not  en- 
dured abuse  and  suffered  grievous  wounds  before 
he  had  asserted  his  rights?  And  with  Virginia 
herself,  when  had  there  ever  been  a  time  when 
he  had  forgotten  his  lover's  part — except  on  that 
last  day,  when  he  had  turned  like  a  trodden  worm 
and  protested  his  right  to  live?  And  yet  she 
blamed  him  for  all  her  misfortunes  and  for  every 
day  that  she  slaved;  and  even  took  the  stock  which 
he  had  returned  as  a  peace-offering  and  hurled  it 
in  his  face! 

Wiley's  lips  set  grimly  as  he  gazed  at  the  cer- 
tificates for  which  men  had  striven  and  died.  There 
were  some  from  her  father,  transferred  on  her  birth- 
days when  the  stock  was  around  thirty  and  forty; 
and  others  from  old  prospectors  like  Henry  Mas- 
ters, who  had  left  it  to  Virginia  when  they  died. 
She  had  sent  it  to  him  by  Charley,  out  of  shame 
for  her  harsh  words,  and  he  had  bought  it  for 
four  hundred  dollars,  half  the  money  that  he  had 
in  the  world.  Those  had  been  happy  days,  in 
spite  of  the  anxiety,  for  he  had  made  the  sacrifice 
for  her;  and  to  prove  his  devotion — and  make  a 
peace-offering  against  the  explosion  that  was  bound 
to  come — he  had  given  the  stock  back  to  Virginia. 
That  was  when  he  was  a  prospector,  doing  business 


PEACE— AND  THE  PRICE  155 

on  a  shoe-string,  a  racing  car  and  a  diamond  ring; 
but  now  when  he  had  made  his  coup  and  could 
write  his  check  for  thousands  she  threw  the  stock 
back  in  his  face. 

The  stock  had  a  value  now  for,  under  the  terms 
of  the  bond  and  lease,  one-tenth  of  the  net  mill 
returns  were  automatically  withheld  and  turned  in 
to  the  company  as  royalty;  and  if  for  any  reason 
he  failed  to  meet  the  payment  when  the  fifty  thou- 
sand-dollar option  expired,  then  this  stock  and  all 
Paymaster  stock  would  take  a  sudden  jump  to  five 
or  ten  dollars  a  share.  And  the  stock  was  hers — 
she  had  received  it  from  her  father  when  he  was 
the  mining  king  of  the  West,  and  from  old  man 
Masters  when  he  was  dying  in  the  cabin  where 
she  had  helped  to  care  for  him  for  months — yet 
she  would  not  accept  it  as  a  gift.  Wiley  pondered 
a  long  time  and  then,  as  Christmas  drew  near,  he 
sent  for  Death  Valley  Charley. 

"Charley/5  he  began,  when  he  came  up  that 
night,  "did  I  understand  you  to  say  one  time 
that  you  were  acting  as  a  kind  of  guardian  to  Vir- 
ginia? Well,  now  here's  a  bunch  of  stock  that 
you  sold  to  me  once  when  you  were  slightly  off 
your  cabeza.  There's  over  twelve  thousand  shares 
and  all  you  asked  was  four  hundred  dollars,  when 
you  knew  they  were  worth  eight  hundred  at 
least." 

"Yes,  that's  so,"  admitted  Charley,  blinking  and 
rubbing  his  chin,  "but  you  know  them  women, 
Wiley.    They're  crazy,  that's  all,  and  the  Colonel 


156  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

he   told    me    special    not    to   let    them    lose    their 


mine." 


(( 


Well,  never  mind  the  mine,"  said  Wiley  wincing. 
"I'm  talking  about  this  stock.  Don't  you  think 
it's  your  duty,  by  George,  as  guardian,  to  turn 
around  and  buy  it  back?  You've  got  five  thousand 
dollars  coming  to  you  on  those  claims  of  yours 
and  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do.  I'm  short,  right 
now  on  account  of  buying  machinery,  and  so  I 
can't  pay  you  much  cash;  but  if  you'll  take  this 
stock  back  in  part  payment  of  your  claims  I'll 
give  you  four  hundred  more." 

"Well,  all  right,"  agreed  Charley  after  gazing 
at  him  thoughtfully,  "but  you  ought  to  give  back 
that  mine.     The  Colonel,  he  told  me " 

"What  do  you  mean,  give  it  back?'  demanded 
Wiley,  irritably.  "It  isn't  my  property  yet.  I've 
got  to  pay  for  it  first  and  get  it  away  from  old 
Blount  before  I  can  give  it  to  anybody.  That's 
fifty  thousand  dollars  that  I've  got  to  make  clear 
between  now  and  the  twentieth  of  May;  but  be- 
lieve me,  Charley,  if  I  once  get  it  paid  for  I'm  going 
to  do  something  noble." 

"That's  good,"  assented  Charley,  "but  you've 
got  to  pay  me,  right  off — there's  something  going 
to  happen!"  His  sun-dazed  eyes  opened  up  wide 
with  excitement  and  he  listened  long  and  earnestly 
at  the  door  before  he  tiptoed  back  to  Wiley's  desk. 
"I  can  hear  'em,"  he  said.  "They're  going  to  blow 
up  the  mine  and  shake  the  mountains  down. 
They're    boring    through    the    ground,    but    I    can 


\  PEACE— AND  THE  PRICE  157 

hear  them  working—it's   like  worms   eating  their 
way  through  wood." 

"Is  that  so?"  queried  Wiley.  "Well,  maybe  we 
can  stop  'em.  I'll  look  after  it,  right  away.  But 
now  about  this  stock " 

"  It's  the  Germans ! "  burst  out  Charley.  "They've 
got  boring  machines  that  eat  through  mountains 
like  wood.  And  then,  bumm,  it's  them  mines, 
and  the  dynamite  bombs " 

"Yes,  it's  awful,"  agreed  Wiley,  "but  here's 
your  money,  Charley;  so  maybe  you'd  better  go. 
And  you  keep  this  stock  now,  until  it  comes  Christ- 
mas; and  then,  Christmas  Eve,  you  slip  into  the 
house  and  put  it  in  Virginia's  stocking." 

"Oh — yes,"  agreed  Charley,  still  listening  to 
the  Germans  and  then  he  became  lost  in  deep 
thought.  "The  Colonel  will  kill  me,"  he  said 
at  last.  "It's  Christmas,  and  I  ain't  brought 
his  whiskey." 

" Why,  what's  the  matter ? "  joshed  Wiley.  "Why 
didn't  you  deliver  it?  Did  you  get  caught  in  a 
sandstorm,  or  what?" 

"Yes,  a  sandstorm,"  answered  Charley,  solemnly. 
"It  came  down  the  valley  like  a  wall.  And  my 
burros  got  away;  but  the  Colonel,  he  found  me — 
I  was  digging  a  hole  in  the  sand." 

"Say,  where  are  these  Ube-Hebes?'  broke  in 
Wile3r  impulsively.  "I'd  like  to  go  over  there  some 
time. 

"They're  across  Death  Valley,"  answered  Charley 

smiling  craftily,  " — on  the  west  side,  in  the  Funeral 


158  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

Range.  The  Coffin  mine  is  there — I  used  to  work 
in  it — but  they  put  me  underground  with  a  stiff 
for  a  pardner  so  I  quit  and  come  back  to  town.'3 

"Yes,  I  heard  about  that;  but  you  forgot  some- 
thing, Charley — how  about  that  graveyard  shift? 
But  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do,  if  you'll  take  me  to 
the  Colonel  I'll  help  Virginia  get  back  her  mine." 

He  plumped  the  statement  at  him,  for  Charley 
was  an  innocent  who  spoke  out  the  truth  when 
he  was  jumped,  but  for  once  he  detected  the 
ruse. 

"The  Colonel's  dead,"  he  answered  sulkily  and 
picked  up  his  hat  to  go. 

"I  doubt  it!'  scoffed  Wiley.  "I  met  a  man  the 
other  day  who  said  he'd  seen  him — in  the  Ube- 
Hebes  mountains." 

"He  did?"  exclaimed  Charley,  and  then  he  drew 
back  and  his  eyes  flashed  with  angry  resentment. 
"You're  a  liar!'  he  burst  out.  "The  Colonel  is 
dead.     He  never  said  anything  of  the  kind." 

"Yes,  he  did,"  insisted  Wiley,  "and  you  know 
the  man  well.     He's  got  a  little  dog  like  Heine.'5 

"He's  a  liar!"  cried  Charley  savagely,  "and  don't 
you  go  to  talking  or  I'll  make  you  wish  you 
hadn't." 

"No,  I  won't,"  assured  Wiley,  "but  here's  the 
proposition — the  Colonel  left  a  lot  of  stock.  And 
Mrs.  Huff,  being  crazy,  gave  it  all  to  Blount  on  a 
loan  of  eight  hundred  dollars.  But  if  the  Colonel 
should  come  back  that  transfer  would  be  illegal  and 
he  could   fix  it  to  get  back  the   mine.     So  don't 


PEACE— AND  THE  PRICE  159 

talk  to  me  about  giving  Virginia  her  mine — you 
go  out  and  bring  in  the  Colonel. " 

"He's  dead!"  yelled  Charley,  scrabbling  madly  out 
the  door.     "You're  a  liar — I  tell  you  he's  dead!" 

"Yes,  he's  dead,"  observed  Wiley,  "just  the  same 
as  I  am.     I'll  have  to  get  old  Charley  drunk." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
On  Christmas  Day 

CHRISTMAS  came  to  Keno  in  a  whirling 
snowstorm  that  shrouded  Shadow  Mountain 
in  white  and,  as  he  stepped  out  in  the 
morning  and  looked  up  at  the  peak,  Wiley  Holman 
felt  a  thrill  of  joy.  The  black  shadow  had  both- 
ered him,  now  that  he  had  come  to  live  under  it; 
and  a  hundred  times  a  day  as  it  caught  his  eye 
he  would  glance  up  to  find  the  dark  cloud.  But 
now  it  was  gone  and  in  place  of  the  lava  cap  there 
was  a  mantle  of  gleaming  snow.  He  looked  down 
at  the  town  and,  on  every  graceless  house,  there 
had  been  bestowed  a  crown  of  white;  all  the  tin 
cans  were  buried,  the  burned  spots  were  covered 
over,  and  Keno  was  almost  beautiful.  A  family 
of  children  were  out  in  the  street,  trying  to  coast 
in  their  new  Christmas  wagons,  and  Wiley  smiled 
to  himself. 

He  had  brought  back  those  children;  he  had 
brought  the  town  to  life  and  tenanted  its  vacant 
houses;  and  now,  best  of  all,  he  had  brought  the 
spirit  of  Christmas,  for  he  had  sent  a  peace-offering 
to  Virginia.  She  had  spurned  it  once  in  the  heat 
of  passion,  and  called  him  a  coward    and    a  crook; 

1 60 


ON  CHRISTMAS  DAY  161 

but  that  package  of  stock  would  recall  to  her  mind 
a  time  when  she  had  known  him  for  a  friend.  It 
would  bring  up  old  memories  of  their  boy-and-girl 
love,  which  she  knew  he  had  never  forgotten, 
and  if  there  was  anything  to  forgive  she  would 
know  that  he  remembered  it  when  he  sent  this 
offering  by  Charley. 

He  was  a  crazy  old  rat,  but  he  had  his  uses;  and 
he  had  promised  to  give  her  the  stock,  without 
fail.  It  was  to  come,  of  course,  from  Charley  him- 
self, in  atonement  for  selling  it  for  nothing;  but 
Virginia  would  know,  even  if  she  missed  his  flowered 
Christmas  card,  that  the  stock  was  a  present  from 
him.  It  had  a  value  now  far  above  the  price  he 
had  paid  for  it  when  Charley  had  thrust  it  upon 
him  and  the  dividend  alone  from  the  royalties  on 
his  lease  would  be  twelve  hundred  dollars  and 
more.  And  then  her  pro  rata  share,  when  he 
paid  his  fifty  thousand  dollars,  would  add  another 
six  hundred;  and  she  knew  that,  for  the  asking,  she 
could  have  half  of  what  he  had — or  all,  if  she 
would  take  him,  too. 

Wiley  looked  down  on  the  house  that  sheltered 
Virginia  and  smiled  to  think  of  her  there.  She 
was  waiting  on  miners,  but  the  time  would  come 
when  someone  would  be  waiting  on  her.  In  the 
back  of  his  brain  a  bold  plan  had  been  forming  to 
feed  fat  his  grudge  against  Blount  and  restore  the 
Huffs  to  their  own — and  it  needed  but  a  word 
from  her  to  put  the  plan  into  action.  He  held 
from    Blount    two    separate    and    distinct    papers; 


1 62  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

one  a  bond  and  lease  on  the  mine,  the  other  an 
option  on  his  personal  stock.  But  to  grant  the 
bond  and  lease — with  its'  option  for  fifty  thousand 
— Blount  had  been  compelled  to  vote  the  Widow's 
stock;  and  if  that  stock  was  not  his  and  had  been 
illegally  voted,  then  of  course  the  bond  and  lease 
would  be  void. 

Yet  even  so  he,  Wiley  Holman,  had  fully  safe- 
guarded his  interests,  for  by  his  other  option  he 
could  buy  all  Blount's  stock  for  the  sum  of  five 
cents  a  share.  The  four  hundred  thousand-odd 
shares  would  come  to  only  twenty  thousand  dol- 
lars, as  against  fifty  thousand  on  the  bond  and 
lease;  and  yet,  by  buying  the  stock  at  once,  he 
could  effectually  debar  Blount  from  any  share  in 
the  accumulating  profits.  The  small  payments  on 
past  royalties  and  his  five  cents  a  share  would  be 
all  that  Blount  would  receive;  and  then  he  would 
be  left,  a  spectacle  for  gods  and  men — a  banker 
who  had  been  beaten  by  a  boy.  It  was  the  chi- 
canery of  Blount  which  had  ruined  his  father  and 
driven  Colonel  Huff  to  his  death,  and  what  could 
be  better,  as  poetic  justice,  than  to  see  him  hoist 
on  his  own  petard.  And  if  the  Colonel  was 
not  dead — as  would  appear  from  Charley's  maun- 
derings — if  he  could  be  discovered  and  brought  back 
to  town,  then  surely  Virginia  would  forget  the  old 
feud  and  consent  to  be  his  wife.  All  this  lay  before 
him,  a  fairyland  of  imaginings,  waiting  only  her 
magic  touch  to  make  it  real;  just  a  word,  a  smile, 
a  promise  of  forgiveness — and  of  loyalty  and  love — • 


ON  CHRISTMAS   DAY  163 

and  he,  Wiley  Holman,  would  go  whirling  on  the 
errand  that  would  win  him  wealth  and  renown. 

It  would  all  be  done  for  her,  and  yet  he  would 
not  be  the  loser,  for  his  own  father  held  two  hun- 
dred thousand  shares  of  Paymaster;  and  he  him- 
self would  save  a  fifty-thousand-dollar  payment 
at  an  expense  of  a  little  over  twenty.  And  if  the 
Colonel  could  be  found  quickly — or  his  death  dis- 
proved to  make  illegal  the  Widow's  transfer  of  his 
stock — then  the  mine  could  be  claimed  at  once 
and  Blount  deprived  even  of  his  royalties.  Of  course 
this  could  all  be  done  without  the  help  of  Vir- 
ginia or  the  co-operation  of  any  of  the  Huffs  for, 
although  his  father  had  refused  from  the  first  to 
have  anything  to  do  with  the  mine,  Wiley  knew 
that  he  could  talk  him  over  and  persuade  him  to 
pool  his  stock.  That  would  make  six  hundred 
thousand,  a  clean  voting  majority  and  a  fortune 
in  itself;  but  for  the  sake  of  Virginia,  and  to  heal 
the  ancient  feud,  it  would  be  better  to  unite  with 
the  Huffs. 

Wiley  paced  up  and  down  in  the  crisp,  dry  snow 
and  watched  for  Virginia  to  come,  and  as  his  mind 
leapt  ahead  he  saw  her  enthroned  in  a  mansion, 
with  him  as  her  faithful  vassal — when  he  was  not 
her  lord  and  king.  For  the  Huffs  were  proud, 
even  now  in  their  poverty,  and  Virginia  was  the 
proudest  of  them  all;  and  in  this,  their  first  meet- 
ing, he  must  remember  what  she  had  suffered  and 
that  it  is  hard  for  the  loser  to  yield.  It  should 
be  his  part  to  speak  with  humility  and  dwell  but 


164  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

lightly  on  the  past  while  he  pictured  a  future, 
entirely  free  from  menial  service,  in  which  she 
could  live  according  to  her  station.  All  her  years 
of  poverty  and  disappointment  and  loneliness  would 
be  forgotten  in  this  sudden  rise  to  wealth;  and  to 
complete  the  picture,  Blount,  the  cause  of  all 
her  suffering,  would  grovel,  very  unbankerlike,  at 
their  feet. 

Blount  would  grovel  indeed  when  he  felt  the 
cold  steel  that  would  deprive  him  of  all  his  stock, 
for  he  was  still  playing  the  game  with  his  loans 
and  extensions  in  the  hope  of  winning  back  what 
he  had  lost.  For  money  wTas  his  god,  before  whom 
there  was  no  other,  and  he  worshiped  it  day 
and  night;  and  all  his  fair  talk  was  no  more  than 
a  pretense  to  lure  Wiley  into  the  net.  Yet  not  for 
a  minuie  would  Wiley  put  up  his  option,  or  his 
bond  and  lease  on  the  mine;  and  for  all  the  money 
that  Blount  had  loaned  him  he  had  given  his  mere 
note  of  hand.  It  was  his  promise  to  pay,  unsecured 
by  any  collateral,  and  yet  it  was  perfectly  good. 
The  money  came  and  went — he  could  pay  Blount 
at  any  time — but  it  was  better  to  rehabilitate 
the  mine. 

Wiley  had  a  race  before  him,  a  race  for  big  stakes, 
and  he  kept  his  eyes  on  the  goal.  To  earn  fifty 
thousand  dollars  in  six  months'  time,  earn  it  clean 
above  all  expense,  required  foresight  and  careful 
management,  and  a  big  daily  output,  for  every 
day  must  count.  The  ore  on  the  dump  was  in 
the  nature  of  a  grub-stake,  a  bonus  for  undertaking 


ON  CHRISTMAS  DAY  165 

the  game;  and  when  it  was  all  shipped  the  profits 
would  drop  to  nothing  unless  he  could  bring  up 
more  ore.  So  he  took  his  first  checks,  and  what 
he  could  borrow,  and  timbered  and  cleaned  out 
the  mine;  and,  to  save  shipping  out  more  ore, 
he  had  ordered  expensive  machinery  to  put  the 
old  mill  into  shape.  It  was  the  part  of  good  judg- 
ment to  spend  quickly  at  first  and  build  up  the 
efficiency  of  his  plant;  and  then  the  last  few  months, 
when  Blount  would  begin  to  gloat,  make  a  run 
that  would  put  him  in  the  clear.  Clear  not  only 
of  the  bond  and  lease,  but  on  Blount's  stock  as 
well,  for  it  would  pay  for  itself  with  the  first  divi- 
dend; and,  to  save  paying  any  more  royalties, 
Wiley  was  curtailing  his  wasteful  shipments  while 
he  prepared  to  concentrate  the  ore  in  his  mill. 

There  were  envious  people  in  town  who  proph- 
esied his  failure  and  claimed  that  success  had  gone 
to  his  head,  but  he  was  confident  he  could  show 
them  that  a  man  can  take  chances  and  yet  play  his 
cards  to  win.  He  had  taken  chances  with  Blount 
when  he  had  accepted  his  money,  for  there  were  other 
banks  that  would  lend  on  his  mine;  but  in  what 
more  harmless  way  could  he  engage  his  attention 
and  keep  him  from  actual  sabotage? 

It  was  that  which  he  dreaded,  the  resort  to 
open  warfare,  the  fire  and  vandalism,  and  dynamite; 
and  day  and  night  he  kept  his  eye  on  the  works, 
and  hired  a  night-watchman,  to  boot.  But  as 
long  as  Blount  was  convinced  he  could  win  back 
the  mine  peaceably  he  would  not  resort  to  violence 


166  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

and,  though  Stiff  Neck  George  still  hung  about 
the  camp,  he  kept  scrupulously  away  from  the 
Paymaster. 

As  Christmas  day  wore  on  and  the  sun  came 
out  gleaming,  Wiley  swung  off  down  the  trail  and 
through  the  town.  He  was  a  big  man  now,  the 
man  who  had  saved  Keno  after  ten  years  of  stag- 
nation and  lingering  death;  and  yet  there  were 
those  who  disliked  him.  They  recited  old  stories 
of  his  shrewd  dealings  with  Mrs.  Huff,  and  with 
Virginia  and  Death  Valley  Charley;  and  if  any  were 
forgotten  the  Widow  undoubtedly  recalled  them. 
She  was  a  shrewish  woman,  full  of  gossip  and 
backbiting,  and  she  let  no  opportunity  pass;  so 
that  even  old  Charley  cherished  a  certain  resent- 
ment, though  he  disguised  it  as  solicitude  for  the 
Huffs.  And  so  on  Christmas  day,  as  Wiley  walked 
down  the  street,  many  greetings  lacked  a  holiday 
heartiness. 

The  front  room  of  the  Huff  house  was  full  of 
children  and,  as  Wiley  walked  back  and  forth,  he 
caught  a  glimpse  of  Virginia;  but  she  did  not 
come  out  and,  after  lingering  around  for  a  while, 
he  climbed  up  the  trail  to  the  mine.  He  had 
caught  but  a  glimpse,  but  it  was  clean-cut  as  a 
cameo — a  classic  head,  eagerly  poised;  dark  hair, 
brushed  smoothly  back;  and  a  smile,  for  some 
neighbor's  child.  That  was  Virginia,  high-headed 
and  patrician,  but  kind  to  lame  dogs  and  lost 
cats.  She  had  invited  in  the  children  but  he, 
Wiley  Holman,  who  had  loved  her  since  she  was  a 


ON  CHRISTMAS  DAY  167 

child,  had  been  permitted  to  pass  unnoticed.  He 
wandered  about  uneasily,  then  went  back  to  his 
office  and  began  to  run  over  his  accounts. 

Over  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  had  passed 
through  his  hands  in  less  than  a  calendar  month 
and  yet  the  long  haul  across  the  desert  from  Vegas 
had  put  him  in  the  hole.  Besides  the  initial  cost 
of  cables  and  timbers — and  of  a  rock  breaker  and 
the  concentrating  plant — there  was  a  charge  of 
approximately  twenty  dollars  a  ton  for  every  pound 
of  supplies  he  hauled  out.  And,  because  of  the 
war,  all  supplies  were  high  and  the  machinery 
houses  were  behind  with  their  orders;  yet  so  eager 
were  the  buyers  to  get  hold  of  his  tungsten  that 
they  almost  took  it  out  of  the  bins.  He  was  storing 
up  the  ore,  preparatory  to  milling  it  and  shipping 
only  the  concentrates;  but  if  they  could  have  their 
way  they  would  wrest  it  from  his  hands  and  rush 
it  to  the  railroad  post  haste.  One  mysterious 
buyer  had  even  offered  him  a  contract  at  seventy 
dollars  a  unit — three  dollars  and  a  half  a  pound! 

Wiley  opened  up  his  notebook  and  made  a  care- 
ful estimate  of  what  the  ore  on  the  dump  would 
bring  and  his  eyes  grew  big  as  he  figured.  At 
seventy  dollars  a  unit  it  would  come  to  more  than 
he  owed;  and  pay  for  the  mine,  to  boot.  It  was  a 
stupendous  sum  to  come  so  quickly,  before  the 
mine  was  hardly  opened  up;  but  when  the  mill 
was  running  and  the  mine  was  sending  up  ore — 
he  smiled  dizzily  and  shook  his  head.  A  profit 
like  that,   if  it  ever  became  known,  would   make 


168  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

his  position  dangerous.  It  was  too  much  of  a 
temptation  for  Blount  and  his  jumpers,  and  black- 
leg lawyers  with  fake  claims.  They  could  get  out 
injunctions  and  tie  up  the  work  until  he  lost  the 
mine  by  default! 

But  would  they  dare  do  it?  And  how  long  would 
it  take  to  raise  fifty  thousand  dollars  elsewhere? 
Wiley  studied  it  all  over  in  the  silence  of  his  office, 
for  the  mine  was  closed  down  for  Christmas;  and 
then  once  more  he  turned  to  his  notebook  and 
figured  the  ore  underground.  Then  he  figured  the 
outside  cost  for  installing  his  machinery,  for  freight 
and  supplies  and  the  pay-roll;  and,  adding  twenty 
per  cent  for  wTear  and  tear  and  accidents,  he  figured 
the  grand  total  for  six  months.  That  was  astound- 
ing too  but,  when  he  put  against  it  his  ore  and  the 
price  per  ton,  not  even  the  chances  that  stood  out 
against  him  could  keep  down  that  dizzy  smile.  He 
was  made,  he  was  rich,  if  he  could  just  hold  things 
level  and  do  a  day's  work  every  day. 

The  sun  set  at  last  as  he  sat  planning  details 
and,  rising  up  stifHy,  he  pushed  his  papers  aside 
and  went  out  into  the  night.  The  snow  had  melted 
fast  on  the  roofs  and  bare  ridges  and,  as  the  last 
rays  of  sunset  touched  the  peak  with  ruddy  fingers, 
he  noticed  that  the  shadow  had  come  back.  The 
barren  lava  cap  had  thrown  aside  its  Christmas 
mantle,  melting  the  snow  before  it  could  pack; 
and  now,  grim  and  black,  it  stood  out  like  a  death- 
head  above  the  white  valley  below.  Lights  flashed 
out   from    miners'   windows,    the   scampering   chil- 


ON  CHRISTMAS  DAY  169 

dren  ceased  their  clamor,  and  he  wandered  through 
the  darkness  alone. 

There  was  something  he  had  forgotten,  something 
big  and  significant,  but  his  tired  brain  refused  to 
respond.  It  was  part  of  the  scheme  to  beat  Blount 
out  of  his  stock,  and  the  royalty  from  the  ship- 
ments of  ore;  and — yes,  it  had  to  do  with  Vir- 
ginia. It  was  going  to  make  her  rich,  and  both 
of  them  happy;  but  he  could  not  recall  it,  at  the 
moment.  He  was  worn  out,  weary  with  the  seeth- 
ing thoughts  which  had  rioted  through  his  mind 
all  day,  and  he  turned  back  dumbly  to  his  office. 
It  was  dark  and  cold  and  as  he  groped  for  his 
matchbox  his  hand  encountered  a  strange  pack- 
age. And  yet  it  was  not  so  strange — he  seemed 
to  remember  it,  somehow.  He  struck  a  hasty 
match  and  looked.     It  was  the  package  of  stock 

that  he  had  sent  to  Virginia,  but The  match 

burnt  his  fingers  and  he  dropped  it  with  a  curse. 
She  had  refused  his  offer  of  peace. 


CHAPTER    XIX 
The  Enigma 

THE  heights  and  depths  of  life  are  sounded 
by  emotions — cold  reason  lags  behind.  As 
thought  cannot  compass,  so  words  cannot 
describe  the  anguished  spirit's  flight;  and  whether 
it  soars  to  ecstasy  or  sinks  to  despair  it  comes 
back  wide-eyed  and  silent.  So  any  action  which 
has  been  prompted  by  passion  cannot  be  explained 
by  a  calculating  mind,  and  to  seek  a  reason  where 
none  exists  is  to  stray  still  farther  from  the  truth. 
Virginia  Huff  was  poor  and  waited  on  the  table 
for  what  she  could  eat  and  get  to  wear;  and  when 
she  returned  stock  which  was  worth  twelve  hun- 
dred dollars  without  even  a  note  of  thanks  it  was 
not  for  any  reason  of  the  mind.  It  was  a  reason 
of  the  feelings,  the  soul,  the  human  ego,  which 
drives  our  minds  and  bodies  to  their  tasks;  a  reason 
that  soared  up  like  a  flaming  aurora  and  stabbed 
the  darkened  sky  with  hate  and  passion.  It  was 
nothing  to  reason  about,  and  yet  Wiley  reasoned. 

He  put  down  the  stocks  and  lit  his  lamp  and 
examined  the  package  carefully.  Then  he  looked 
inside  for  some  note  of  explanation   and   paused 

170 


THE  ENIGMA  171 

and  swore  to  himself.  No  note  was  there,  nor  any 
sign  that  the  stocks  had  ever  passed  through  her 
hands.  He  rose  up  craftily  and  stepped  out  the 
door,  passing  silently  from  house  to  house,  and 
then  as  he  came  back  he  threw  his  door  open  and 
examined  the  snow  for  tracks.  If  Death  Valley 
Charley  had  failed  of  his  mission,  if  he  had  neg- 
lected to  place  the  shares  in  her  stocking  and  then 
sneaked  back  to  get  rid  of  them — but  Wiley  put 
all  thought  of  Charley  aside  for  there  in  the  snow 
was  the  print  of  a  woman's  shoe.  Small  and  dainty 
it  was  and  he  knew  in  his  heart  that  Virginia  had 
been  there  and  gone.  She  might  have  been  watch- 
ing him  as  he  sat  at  his  work,  she  might  even  be 
watching  him  now;  but  again  something  told 
him  that,  however  she  had  come,  she  had  gone 
away  in  a  rage.  The  stab  of  the  high  heel,  the 
heedless  step  into  a  mud-puddle,  the  swinging 
stride  down  the  trail;  all  spoke  of  defiance,  of  a 
coming  in  the  open  and  a  return  without  fear  of 
man  or  devil.  She  had  come  there  to  see  him  and, 
finding  him  away,  she  had  thrown  down  the  papers 
and  gone  home.  And  that  was  the  answer  to  his 
love. 

Wiley  sat  down  by  the  fire  and  tried  to  account 
for  it.  He  imagined  himself  a  woman,  young  and 
beautiful,  but  poor;  working  hard,  as  Virginia  now 
worked,  for  her  board  and  keep.  Before  her  there 
was  nothing — her  father  was  dead  or  lost,  her 
mother  a  hopeless  scold,  her  fortune  irretrievably 
gone — and  yet  she  closed  the  only  door  out.    As 


I7a  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

an  earnest  of  his  love,  without  asking  anything  in 
return,  he  had  restored  to  her  a  portion  of  her 
stock;  and  she  had  promptly  flung  it  back.  Had 
Charley  made  some  break  in  his  method  of  pres- 
entation? But  no,  she  would  not  mind  if  he  had; 
it  was  something  deeper,  behind.  He  battered  his 
brain,  recalling  every  little  incident  that  might  have 
turned  her  heart  against  him,  and  it  all  brought 
him  back  to  the  trial. 

When  he  had  had  her  mother  arrested  for  com- 
ing into  his  office  and  demanding — what  was  it 
she  had  demanded?  He  remembered  the  six- 
shooter,  and  the  deputy  and  Blount,  and  the  Widow's 
rage  and  tears;  and  Virginia's  return  and  all  she 
had  said  to  hirn — but  what  was  it  her  mother  had 
demanded?  Her  stock!  All  her  stock!  The  stock 
she  had  refused  to  sell  for  ten  cents  a  share  and 
then  had  turned  around  and  put  up  with  Blount 
as  security  on  a  quick-action  note.  She  had 
demanded  it  all  back,  without  reason,  without 
compensation,  simply  because  she  was  a  woman 
witli  a  gun;  and  because  he  had  invoked  the  law 
to  protect  him  in  his  rights  Virginia  had  sworn 
she  would  kill  him.  Wiley  rose  up  swiftly  and  pulled 
the  curtain  across  the  window,  and  then  he  con- 
sidered the  matter  again. 

It  was  not  like  Virginia  to  resort  to  any  violence 
— she  had  been  humiliated  too  often  by  her  mother's 
— but  she  must  still  think  he  had  deprived  her  of 
her  rights.  By  what  process  of  reasoning  could  they 
fix  the  blame  on  him  for  this  stock  which  had  been 


THE  ENIGMA  173 

purloined  by  Blount,  was  beyond  his  strictly  mas- 
culine mind;  but  women  sometimes  think  by  jumps. 
They  skip  a  few  processes,  like  a  mathematical 
prodigy,  and  then  arrive  at  some  mammoth  result. 
But,  even  if  they  exaggerated  their  grievance — 
was  there  anything  behind  it,  any  peg  on  which 
to  hang  this  senseless  hate? 

Well,  of  course  he  had  deceived  them  about  the 
mine.  He  had  known  it  contained  scheelite  the  mo- 
ment he  picked  up  that  white  rock  that  Virginia  had 
placed  in  her  collection,  but  naturally  he  had  not 
announced  it  from  the  house-tops.  With  the  Widow 
as  a  partner,  or  even  as  a  stockholder,  the  best- 
natured  man  in  the  state  of  Nevada  could  not 
have  worked  the  Paymaster  at  a  profit.  For  that 
reason  alone  he  had  been  fully  justified  in  letting 
her  freeze  herself  out;  and  if  Virginia  had  taken 
his  advice — but  then,  the  poor  girl  had  been  dis- 
tracted. She  had  been  worn  out  and  discouraged, 
hag-ridden  by  her  mother  and  facing  a  trip  to 
the  city;  and  she  had  sold  out  for  what  she  could 
get.  She  was  a  good  girl,  a  brave  girl,  and  a  sweet 
and  lovely  one  too;  and  it  was  foolish  to  blame  her 
for  anything.  The  thing  to  do,  after  all,  was  to 
find  ways  and  means  of  bringing  her  back  to 
her  own.  Just  a  word  from  Virginia  and  he  could 
change  her  whole  life,  he  could  get  back  all  her 
stock  and  her  mother's  as  well  and  pour  money 
into  their  laps — but  first  he  must  win  her  love. 
He  must  teach  her  to  trust  him,  break  down  her 
suspicion  and  show  her  that  he  was  her  friend. 


174  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

Wiley  thought  a  long  time  and  the  next  morning 
at  dawn  he  was  up  in  his  car  and  away.  Virginia 
was  a  child.  She  did  not  reason  about  this  and 
that,  but  was  swayed  by  the  impulses  of  the  mo- 
ment. Her  life  was  ruled,  not  by  her  head  but  by 
her  heart;  and  he  had  forgotten  until  that  moment 
the  sacks  full  of  cats  that  he  had  taken  from  her 
house  to  the  ranch.  They  were  all  her  pets,  and 
he  had  taken  them  as  a  trust  when  she  was  about 
to  start  for  Los  Angeles;  but  the  mine  had  made 
him  forget.  They  were  safe  at  the  ranch,  with 
his  sisters  to  look  after  them;  but  how  many 
times  since  their  estrangement  began  must  some 
question  have  risen  to  her  lips  as  to  how  they 
were,  or  if  he  would  bring  them  back,  or  whether 
any  had  died  or  been  lost?  Yet  she  had  turned 
her  head  away  and  refused  to  speak  to  him,  even 
to  demand  back  the  pets  she  loved. 

The  road  was  bad  out  across  the  desert,  and  on 
through  Vegas  to  the  ranch,  but  he  came  thunder- 
ing back  the  next  night.  He  had  left  the  mine 
to  run  itself,  for  his  thoughts  were  of  Virginia,  but 
as  he  slowed  down  at  the  sand-wash  and  listened 
for  the  pumps  he  noticed  that  the  engine  had 
stopped.  Well,  he  had  an  engineer  and  that  was 
his  business — to  keep  the  sump-hole  pumped  out; 
perhaps  he  had  shut  ddwn  for  repairs.  But  the 
big  thing,  after  all,  was  to  restore  Virginia  her 
pets  and  win  his  way  to  a  place  in  her  heart.  He 
drove  boldly  up  the  street  and  stopped  before  the 
house,  but  nobody  came  to  the  door.     He  waited 


THE  ENIGMA  175 

a  while,  then  leapt  out  uncertainly  and  released  the 
mother  of  Virginia's  pet  kittens.  She  ran  under 
the  house  and,  as  no  one  came  out,  Wiley  let  the 
rest  of  them  go  and  turned  disconsolately  back 
towards  the  mine.  If  he  had  ever  thought,  when 
he  had  the  Widow  arrested,  that  Virginia  was  going 
to  take  it  so  hard — but  then,  of  course,  it  had 
been  absolutely  necessary — and  just  wait  till  she 
found  her  kittens! 

There  was  trouble  in  the  engine-house.  He  knew 
that  the  minute  he  saw  the  dancing  torches  in  the 
dark,  and  he  went  up  the  trail  on  the  run;  but 
when  he  saw  the  wreckage,  and  the  gear-wheel 
dismounted,  he  burst  into  a  wailing  curse.  The 
mine  had  been  all  right,  pumps  operating,  hoist 
running,  when  he  had  left  the  day  before;  but  the 
minute  he  turned  his  back 

"What's  the  matter?"  he  demanded  and  then, 
pushing  the  engineer  aside,  he  flashed  a  torch  on 
the  wreck.  Wedged  in  the  gearing  of  the  shattered 
gear-wheel  was  a  pair  of  engineer's  overalls.  They 
had  jammed  tight  in  the  teeth  and  the  resistless 
driving  of  the  engine  had  cracked  the  great  gear- 
wheel like  an  eggshell.  Held  solid  by  its  base 
in  the  bolted  concrete  there  had  not  been  a  half- 
inch's  play  and,  since  something  must  give,  and 
the  opposing  wheel  had  stood,  the  enormous  casting 
had  smashed.  The  engineer  and  his  helpers  were 
pottering  about,  trying  guiltily  to  remove  the  cause 
of  the  accident,  but  one  look  was  enough  to  tell 
Wiley  Holman  that  his  mine  was  closed  down  for 


176  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

a  week.  No  welding  could  ever  repair  that  broken 
gear-wheel — he  would  have  to  wire  for  another. 

"Whose  overalls  are  those?"  he  asked  at  last 
as  the  men  sought  to  evade  his  eye  and  the  engineer 
himself  confessed  ownership. 

"They're  an  old  pair  of  mine,"  he  explained, 
"that  got  caught  when  I  was  wiping  up  the  grease." 

"What?  Wiping  up  grease  when  the  machinery 
was  in  motion?  Why  didn't  you  wait  until  it 
stopped?" 

"Well — I  didn't;  that's  all.  There  was  a  big 
puddle  of  grease  gathering  dirt  underneath  there — 
and  I  thought  I'd  wipe  it  up." 

"I  see,"  observed  Wiley  and  his  eyes  narrowed 
down  as  he  caught  the  aroma  of  whiskey.  "Well, 
clear  up  this  mess,"  he  said  at  last  and  hurried 
to  his  office  to  telephone.  A  single  line  of  wire 
stretched  out  across  the  plain,  connecting  Keno 
with  Vegas  and  the  world,  and  within  half  an 
hour  he  had  dictated  a  rush  order  to  be  wired 
to  his  supply-house  in  Los  Angeles.  If  money  would 
buy  it  he  would  grab  a  new  gear-wheel  and  have 
it  shipped  out  by  express;  but  if  there  was  none 
in  stock  he  would  have  to  wait  for  it;  and  the 
machine-shops  were  months  behind.  Yet  his  whole 
mine  was  shut  down  on  account  of  this  accident 
and,  if  he  only  had  the  money,  he  could  almost 
afford  to  buy  a  new  engine  and  be  done  with  it. 
He  stopped  and  thought  if  there  was  one  in  the 
country  that  he  could  get  hold  of,  second-hand, 
and  then  he  thrust  the  matter  aside.     The  problem 


THE  ENIGMA  177 

of  getting  an  engine  on  the  ground  was  one  that 
could  be  worked  out  later,  but  in  the  meanwhile 
the  water  was  rising  in  the  sump  and  the  pumps 
would  soon  be  submerged.  There  were  two  shifts 
of  miners  who  would  have  to  be  discharged  and — 
yes,  the  engine  crew,  too.  It  was  against  all  the 
rules  for  an  engineer  to  be  wiping  up  his  engine  while 
it  was  running,  and  it  was  only  by  a  miracle  that 
the  engineer  himself  had  escaped  unhurt  from 
the  smash? 

But  was  it  a  miracle?  A  swift  stab  of  suspicion 
made  Wiley's  heart  stand  still.  Was  this  the 
first  treacherous  move  in  Blount's  battle  to  win 
back  the  mine?  Had  Blount,  or  some  agent,  sug- 
gested to  the  engineer  that  an  accident  would  be 
followed  by  a  reward;  and  then  had  not  the  engineer, 
when  no  one  was  looking,  fed  his  overalls  into  the 
gearings?  He  was  a  surly  young  brute  and  he 
met  Wiley's  eyes  with  a  stare  that  bordered  on 
defiance,  yet  there  was  nothing  to  be  gained  by 
accusing  him.  If  Blount  had  bribed  his  men  it 
was  best  to  get  rid  of  them  without  the  faintest 
suggestion  of  suspicion;  and  then  take  on  a  new 
crew,  shipped  in  from  San  Francisco  or  some  equally 
distant  place. 

Wiley  went  underground  with  his  men,  opening 
up  the  air-cocks  in  the  pumps,  and  bringing  out 
the  powder  and  steel;  and  then  the  next  morning, 
just  before  the  stage  went  out,  he  gave  them  all 
their  time.  They  had  a  certain  constraint,  a 
sullen   silence   in   his   presence,   that   argued    them 


178  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

against  him  at  heart  and,  since  the  mine  was  closed 
down  for  some  time  to  come,  he  made  a  clean 
sweep  of  them  all.  Yet  it  pained  him  somehow, 
being  new  at  the  game,  to  see  all  these  miners 
against  him  and  as  they  piled  their  rolls  on  the 
stage  he  lingered  to  see  them  off.  He  had  paid 
them  union  wages  and  treated  them  right  but 
now,  with  their  time-checks  in  their  pockets,  they 
looked  past  him  in  stony  silence.  It  puzzled  him 
somehow,  leaving  him  vaguely  uneasy;  but  just 
as  the  stage  pulled  out  he  found  the  answer  to  his 
enigma.  On  the  gallery  of  the  Huff  house  as  the 
automobile  sped  past  there  was  a  sudden  flash  of 
white  and  as  Virginia  appeared  the  young  engineer 
rose  up  drunkenly  and  wafted  her  a  kiss.  After 
that  the  answer  was  plain. 


CHAPTER  XX 

An  Appeal  to  Charley 

WHAT  is  a  kiss  waved  by  a  drunken  hand, 
to  a  man  whose  love  is  like  the  hills? 
And  yet  that  kiss,  wafted  so  amorously 
to  Virginia,  stirred  up  a  rage  in  Wiley  Holman's 
heart.  Was  it  not  enough  to  wait  on  the  table, 
without  cultivating  the  acquaintance  of  her  boarders  ? 
And  this  foolish  affair,  whatever  it  was,  had  cost 
him  at  least  ten  thousand  dollars.  It  would  come 
to  that  before  he  was  through  with  it — in  lost  time 
and  new  machinery  and  unearned  profits — and  all 
because  Virginia  had  smiled  at  this  drunken  en- 
gineer, who  had  promptly  sent  his  overalls  through 
the  driving-gear.  Yet  that  was  the  natural  result 
of  letting  his  men  board  in  town  where  they  could 
hear  the  Widow's  ravings  against  him. 

In  the  midst  of  his  telephoning  and  giving  direc- 
tions to  his  mill-crew,  who  were  still  rushing  their 
work  on  the  mill,  Wiley  turned  the  matter  over  in 
his  mind  and  it  left  him  sick  with  doubts.  He  had 
counted  upon  the  opposition  of  Blount,  but  Vir- 
ginia's almost  staggered  him.  It  would  make  a 
difference,  before  his  six  months  was  up,  if  she  set 
all  his  men  against  him,  and  yet  he  could  not  stop 

179 


4    180  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

her.  If  he  withdrew  his  men  and  boarded  them 
himself  that  would  only  inflame  the  neighborhood 
the  more,  for  it  would  deprive  the  Huffs  of  their 
livelihood;  and  if  he  let  things  go  on  it  might 
result  in  more  wrecks  that  would  seriously  interfere 
with  his  plans.  No,  the  thing  to  do  was  to  see 
Virginia  at  once  and  come  to  an  understanding. 

A  telegram  from  his  supply-house  reported  the 
engine  an  old  type  with  all  parts  out  of  stock, 
and  he  worked  for  hours  making  tedious  measure- 
ments before  he  ordered  the  new  gear-wheel  made. 
Then  he  sent  an  urgent  wire  to  rush  him  the  new 
engine  that  had  been  ordered  to  supply  power 
to  the  mill,  only  to  be  told  once  more  that  it  was 
held  up  by  previous  orders  and  could  not  be  de- 
livered for  a  month.  A  month!  And  with  the 
water  mounting  up  in  his  shaft  like  the  interest 
on  his  notes.  It  was  no  time  for  half  measures. 
He  leapt  into  his  racer  and  burned  up  the  road  to 
Vegas.  Three  days  later  he  returned  with  an  old 
gas  engine  that  he  had  salvaged  from  an  abandoned 
mine  and  by  the  end  of  the  week,  by  working 
day  and  night,  he  had  the  pumps  lifting  water. 
And  then  again  he  remembered  Virginia. 

He  had  thought  of  her,  of  course,  when  he  was 
speeding  to  and  fro,  but  he  was  hardly  in  the  mood 
for  sentiment.  There  were  more  things  to  go 
wrong  than  he  had  thought  humanly  possible  in 
the  management  of  a  mine,  and  between  ordering 
his  machinery  and  taking  on  new  men  he  had  had 
scant  leisure  for  affairs  of  the  heart.     He  was  young 


I  AN  APPEAL  TO  CHARLEY  18 1     9 

and  inexperienced  and  the  dealers  took  advantage 
of  it  to  foist  off  old  stock  and  odd  parts,  and  then 
his  engineers  became  fractious  and  disgruntled  be- 
cause he  expected  quick  results.  It  was  all  very 
different  from  what  he  had  expected  when  he 
had  taken  over  the  Paymaster  lease,  and  yet  it 
had  to  be  endured  and  muddled  through  somehow 
until  the  mine  was  safely  his  own.  Then  out 
would  come  the  engines,  and  all  second-hand 
machinery  and  makeshift  parts,  and  with  a  super- 
intendent who  knew  his  job  he  would  lean  back  in 
comfort  and  learn  the  mining  business  by  proxy. 

Wiley  shaved  that  evening  and  went  down  through 
the  town,  but  when  he  put  his  hand  on  the  Widow's 
gate  his  resolution  failed  him.  He  had  placed  her 
under  bonds  to  keep  the  peace,  and  she  had  lived 
up  to  the  undertaking  scrupulously,  but  within 
her  own  house  she  had  certain  rights  and  privileges 
which  even  he  dared  not  invade.  If  he  stepped 
in  that  doorway  she  would  order  him  out;  and 
unquestionably  she  would  be  within  her  rights, 
since  every  man's  house  is  his  castle.  So,  on  the 
very  threshold  of  Virginia's  retreat,  he  drew  back 
and  went  to  see  Death  Valley  Charley. 

Death  Valley  was  drunk,  but  his  conscience  was 
still  active  and  he  burst  into  a  voluble  explanation. 

"No,  I  gave  her  that  stock,"  he  protested  earnestly, 
"but  she  made  me  take  it  back. 

"'It  ain't  mine,'  she  says,  'and  I'll  work  my 
hands  off  before  I'll  take  charity  from  anybody.' 

"'No,  you  keep  it,'  I  says,  just  exactly  like  you 


182  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

tole  me,  'because  I'm  your  guardian,  and  all; 
and  Wiley  he  says  that  I'm  a  hell  of  a  poor  one, 
because  I  sold  him  that  stock  for  nothing.  No/ 
I  says,  just  exactly  like  you  tole  me,  'I  want  you  to 
keep  this  stock.'" 

"Well?"  inquired  Wiley,  as  Charley  paused  to 
take  a  drink,  "and  what  did  Virginia  say,  then?" 

"Oh,  I  couldn't  repeat  it,"  answered  Death 
Valley  virtuously.  "She  don't  seem  to  like  you 
now.     She  says  you  stole  her  mine." 

"Huh!"  grunted  Wiley,  and  looked  about  the 
cabin  which  was  littered  with  bottles  and  flasks. 
"Well,  where've  you  been?'  he  went  on  at  last, 
the  better  to  change  the  subject,  and  Charley  leered 
at  him  shrewdly. 

"Over  across  Death  Valley,"  he  chanted  drunk- 
enly,  " — on  the*  east  side,  in  the  Funeral  Range. 
But  they  put  me  to  work  on  the  graveyard  shift 
so  I  quit  and  come  back  to  town." 

"Ye-es,"  jeered  Wiley,  "you've  been  on  a  big 
drunk.  What  are  you  doing  with  this  demijohn 
of  whiskey?" 

"Why,  I  got  it  for  the  Colonel,"  replied  Charley, 
laughing  childishly,  "and  I  started  to  take  it  over 
to  him,  but  my  burros  got  away  at  Daylight  Springs, 
so  I  made  camp  and  drunk  it  all  up." 

"But  it's  full!"  objected  Wiley. 

"Yes,  I  refilled  it,"  answered  Charley  and  helped 
himself  to  another  nip.  "Thas  second  time  now 
I  took  that  whiskey  to  the  Colonel  and  both  time6 
I  drunk  it  up.     Thas  bad — the  Colonel  will  kill  me." 


AN  APPEAL  TO  CHARLEY  183 

"Yes,  and  do  a  danged  good  job,"  grumbled 
Wiley  morosely.  "You  sure  got  me  in  Dutch  with 
Virginia." 

"She  says  you  stole  her  mine,"  defended  Charley 
stoutly.  "And  don't  you  say  nothing  against 
Virginia.  She's  noblest  girl  the  sun  ever  shined. 
I'll  kill  any  man  that  says  different!" 

"Oh  yes,  sure,"  agreed  Wiley,  "I'd  do  that 
myself.  But  Charley,  I  didn't  steal  her  mine. 
I  got  it  from  Blount,  and  if  she  wants  it  back — say, 
Charley,  you  tell  her  I  want  to  see   her!" 

He  leaned  over  eagerly  and  laid  his  hand  on 
Charley's  shoulder,  but  Death  Valley  shook  him  off. 

"No!':  he  declaimed.  "The  Huffs  are  poor  but 
proud — they  don't  take  charity  from  no  one!'1 

"Aw,  but,  Charley,"  he  argued,  "this  isn't 
charity.     We'll  get  it  away  from  Blount!" 

"You're  drunk!"  declared  Charley  and  turned 
sternly  to  the  demijohn  which  was  rapidly  going 
down. 

"Well,  maybe  I   am,"  admitted  Wiley  craftily, 
but  that's  all  right,  isn't  it,  between  friends?" 
Sure  thing — have  another!"  responded  Charley 
cordially,  and  Wiley  poured  out  a  generous  portion. 

"Here's  to  you,"  he  said,  "Old  Chuckawalla 
Charley — the  man  that  put  the  Death  in  Death 
Valley.  You're  some  desert  rat,  now  ain't  you, 
Charley?  You  helped  pack  the  mud  to  build  the 
butte  and  stoped  out  the  guest  chamber  down  in 
hell!    Well,  here's  luck!"  and  he  nodded  his  health. 

"Yes,  you  bet  I'm  an  old-timer,"  boasted  Death 


1 84  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

Valley  vaingloriously.  "I  was  at  Panamint  and 
Ballarat,  and  all  them  camps.  Me  and  old  Shorty 
Harris — we  used  to  lead  every  rush — we  was  first 
at  Greenwater  and  Skidoo.  But  these  damned 
lizzies  can  beat  us  to  it  now — the  old  burro-man 
is  too  slow." 

"But  crossing  the  sand,  Charley,  youVe  got  us 
there;  and  climbing  up  these  rocky  washes.  I've 
got  a  good  machine — it'll  take  me  most  anywhere — 
but  when  it  comes  to  crossing  Death  Valley,  give 
me  some  burros  and  old  Uncle  Charley."  He 
slapped  him  on  the  back  and  Uncle  Charley  smiled 
doubtfully  and  took  another  drink.  "You  bet," 
went  on  Wiley,  with  method  in  his  madness.  "I'd 
like  nothing  better,  when  I  get  a  little  time,  than 
to  have  you  take  me  out  across  Death  Valley. 
What's  it  like,  over  there,  Charley?  Is  it  very 
far  to  water?     But  I'll  bet  you  kaow  every  trail!' 

"I  know  'em  all,"  announced  Charley  proudly, 
"but  here's  one  that  nobody  knows.  It's  the 
trail  to  the  Ube-Hebes.  First  you  go  from  here 
to  Daylight  Springs,  but  they  ain't  no  feed  around 
there,  so  you  go  over  the  divide  and  down  six 
miles  and  camp  at  Hole-in-the-Rock.  And  there 
they's  good  feed  and  plenty  of  good  water  and 
a  tin  house  where  the  freighters  used  to  camp; 
and  then  you  fill  your  tanks  and  the  next  day 
you  follow  the  wash  till  it  takes  you  down  to  Stove- 
pipe Wells.  That  water  is  bad  but  the  burros  will 
drink  it  if  you  bail  the  hole  out  first,  and  the  next 
day  you  cross  the  sandhills  and  the  Death  Valley 


AN  APPEAL  TO  CHARLEY  185 

Sink  and  head  for  Cottonwood  wash.  Many  is 
the  man  that  has  started  for  that  gateway  and  died 
before  he  reached  the  water,  but  the  Colonel " 

Charley  stopped  abruptly  and  looked  around  for 
Heine  and  then  he  poured  out  a  drink. 

"He's  dead  now,"  he  concluded,  but  Wiley  caught 
his  eye  and  shook  his  head  disapprovingly. 

"Not  between  friends,"  he  said.  "Ain't  we 
drunk  here  together?  Well,  tell  me  the  truth  now — 
where  is  he?  And  listen  here,  Charley;  I'll  tell 
you  something  first  that  will  make  it  all  right 
with  the  Colonel.  All  he  has  to  do  is  to  come  back 
to  Keno  and  I'll  give  him  his  share  in  the  mine. 
Then  we  can  throw  in  together,  and,  when  we 
get  through,  old  Blount  will  be  left  holding  the 
sack.  Do  you  get  the  idea?  I'm  trying  to  be 
friends,  but  you've  got  to  take  me  over  to  the 
Colonel!" 

"The  Colonel  is  dead!"  repeated  Charley  doggedly 
and  then  he  cocked  his  head  to  one  side.  "Don't 
you  hear  'em?'  he  asked,  "it's  them  Germans  or 
something " 

'' Never  mind!"  said  Wiley  sharply.  "I'm  talking 
about  the  Colonel,  and  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do. 
I  can't  give  the  mine  to  Virginia  because  she  won't 
take  it;  but  the  Colonel  is  a  gentleman.  He's 
reasonable,  Charley,  and  I'd  get  along  with  him 
fine;  so  come  on,  now — go  over  and  tell  him!" 

He  patted  him  on  the  back  and  a  look  of  inde- 
cision crept  into  Charley's  drink-dimmed  eyes, 
but  in  the  end  he  shook  his  head. 


1 86  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"Nope,"   he   muttered,   "the   Colonel   is   dead!' 
And  Wiley  threw  up  his  hands. 

"Well,  then  here,"  he  ran  on,  "you  know  me 
Charley;  and  you  know  I'm  not  trying  to  steal 
that  mine.  Now  here's  what  I  want  you  to  do. 
You  tell  Virginia  I  want  to  see  her;  and  then 
some  night  you  bring  her  over  and — well,  maybe 
that  will  do  just  as  well." 

"Will  you  give  her  back  her  mine?"  inquired 
Charley  pointedly,  and  Wiley  rose  up  in  a  rage. 

"Yes!"  he  yelled,  "for  cripes'  sake,  what's  the 
matter  with  you?  You  talk  like  everybody  was  a 
crook.  Didn't  I  give  her  back  her  stock?  Well 
then,  I'll  give  her  back  her  mine!  But  she's  got 
to  accept  it,  hasn't  she?" 

"That  was  her  I  heard  coming,"  answered 
Charley  simply,  but  when  Wiley  looked  out  she 
was  gone. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
The  Dragon's  Teeth 

IT  is  the  curse  of  success  that  it  raises  up  ene- 
mies as  Jason's  dragon  teeth  brought  forth 
armed  men.  When  he  was  skating  around 
the  country,  examining  mines  and  taking  out 
options,  Wiley  could  safely  count  every  man  his 
friend;  but  now  that  he  had  made  his  big  coup 
on  the  Paymaster  they  were  against  him,  from 
Virginia  down.  If  he  went  to  her  politely  with 
a  thousand-dollar  bill  and  asked  her  to  take  it 
as  a  gift  she  would  refuse  to  so  much  as  look  at 
him.  And  yet,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  was  the 
same  old  laughing  Wiley — only  now  he  did  not 
laugh.  It  was  not  right,  but  it  could  not  be  helped. 
A  long  and  weary  month,  full  of  vexatious  delays 
and  nerve-racking  demands  from  his  creditors,  left 
its  mark  on  Wiley's  face;  but  in  six  weeks  the  mine 
and  mill  were  running.  Three  shifts  of  men  broke 
the  ore  at  the  face  and  sent  it  up  the  shaft  to  the 
grizzly  and  from  there  it  was  fed  down  through  the 
enormous  rock-crusher  and  then  on  through  the 
ball-mills  and  rollers  to  the  concentrating  tables 
below.  It  was  crushed  and  sorted  and  crushed 
again  and  ground  fine  in  the  revolving  tubes,  and 

187 


188  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

then  it  was  screened  and  washed  and  separated 
on  vanners  until  nothing  but  the  concentrates  re- 
mained. The  tail  sluicings  were  sluiced  off  down 
the  gulch,  to  add  to  the  mighty  dump  that  the 
Paymaster  had  left  there  in  its  prime.  But  even  at 
its  best,  when  it  was  working  in  gold  ore  that  ran 
three  or  four  thousand  to  the  ton,  even  then  the 
famous  Paymaster  had  not  turned  out  treasure 
like  this. 

The  banks  were  full  of  gold — they  were  shipping 
it  to  America  in  lots  of  ten  and  twelve  million  at 
a  time — but  tungsten  was  rare,  it  was  necessary, 
almost  priceless,  and  the  demand  for  it  increased 
by  leaps  and  bounds.  How  could  iron-masters 
harden  the  tools  that  were  to  turn  out  the  mighty 
cannon  that  this  gold  had  been  sent  over  to  buy, 
unless  they  could  get  the  tungsten?  Molybdenum, 
vanadium,  manganese,  and  all  the  substitutes  were 
commandeered  to  take  its  place;  but  month  by 
month  the  price  of  tungsten  crept  up  until  now  all 
the  West  was  tungsten-mad.  It  had  gone  up  from 
forty  dollars  to  sixty,  and  now  seventy,  for  a  twenty- 
pound  unit  of  concentrates — running  sixty  per  cent 
or  better  of  tungstic  acid — and  as  Wiley  resumed 
his  shipments  he  received  a  frantic  offer  of  seventy- 
five  dollars  a  unit.     And  then  once  more  he  smiled. 

There  had  been  a  time  when  he  had  felt  the  cold 
hand  of  Blount  closing  down  on  his  precious  mine — 
and  the  other  banks  had  refused  to  take  over 
his  notes.  The  property  was  not  his,  there  was 
nothing  tangible  upon  which  to  m:ike  a  loan;    and 


THE  DRAGON'S  TEETH  189 


>■ 


then,  Blount  had  passed  the  word  around.  Wiley- 
was  indebted  to  him,  and  heavily  indebted,  and 
when  he  took  the  apple  there  would  be  no  core 
for  the  rest.  But  now  in  a  week  the  whole  situa- 
tion had  changed  and  Wiley's  smile  brought  forth 
answering  smiles.  The  general  store  in  Vegas  ex- 
tended his  credit,  even  his  supply-house  had  heard 
the  good  news;  and  Blount,  who  had  grown  arro- 
gant, became  suddenly  friendly  and  fawning,  trying 
vainly  to  cover  up  his  hand.  He  was  like  a  man 
who  had  clutched  at  a  treasure  and  discovered 
himself  a  little  too  soon.  The  treasure  was  still 
Wiley's  but — well,  Blount  was  used  to  waiting,  so 
he  smiled  and  extended  the  notes. 

At  three  dollars  and  more  a  pound  it  would  not 
take  many  tons  of  tungsten  to  put  Wiley  safely 
out  of  the  hole,  but  when  he  ran  over  his  accounts 
he  was  startled  by  the  bills  that  were  piling  up 
against  him.  A  thousand  dollars  was  nothing  to 
these  mining  machinery  houses  and  his  payroll 
was  over  two  hundred  a  day;  and  then  there  was 
powder  and  timber  and  steel,  and  gasoline  and 
oil,  and  the  freight  across  the  desert.  That  went  on 
everything,  twenty  dollars  a  ton  whether  they 
hauled  both  ways  or  one;  and  with  so  much 
at  stake  he  had  to  treat  everyone  generously  or 
run  the  chance  of  being  tied  up  by  a  strike.  Nor 
was  there  lacking  the  sinister  evidence  of  some 
unfriendly  if  not  hostile  force,  and  as  breakdowns 
recurred  and  unexpected  accidents  happened,  Wiley 
came  and  went  like  a  ghost.     His  gun  was  always 


190  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

on  him  and  he  watched  each  man  warily,  seeking 
out  his  enemies  from  his  friends. 

As  for  Virginia  and  her  mother,  he  had  long 
since  given  up  hope  of  stopping  their  venomous 
tongues;  and  Death  Valley  Charley,  finding  the 
pressure  too  strong,  had  conveniently  dropped  out 
of  sight.  In  all  that  town,  which  he  had  found 
dead  and  unpeopled  and  had  changed  in  a  few 
months  to  a  live  camp,  there  was  not  a  single 
soul  that  he  could  truthfully  say  was  honestly  and 
unquestionably  his  friend.  It  was  not  that  they 
were  against  him,  for  most  of  them  realized  that 
their  own  success  was  bound  up  with  his;  but 
they  were  not  actively  for  him,  they  did  not  boost 
and  help  him,  but  joined  in  on  the  old  anvil  chorus. 
He  had  cheated  the  Widow,  he  had  beaten  Vir- 
ginia out  of  her  stock,  he  had  taken  advantage  of 
Death  Valley  Charley!  But,  they  added — and  this 
was  what  galled  him — what  else  could  you  expect 
from  the  son  of  Honest  John  ? 

Wiley  gritted  his  teeth,  but  he  did  not  speak 
his  mind  for  the  hour  of  vindication  was  at  hand. 
When  he  had  paid  off  his  notes  and  his  bills  for 
supplies  the  first  thing  he  would  do,  even  before 
he  took  over  the  mine,  would  be  to  buy  in  Blount's 
Paymaster  stock.  And  with  that  stock  in  his 
hands,  with  every  tell-tale  endorsement  to  prove 
the  damning  story  of  Blount's  guilt,  he  would 
go  to  these  old-timers  and  make  them  eat  their 
words  when  they  said  his  father  was  not  honest. 
But  as  far  as  he  was  concerned,  what  difference 


THE  DRAGON'S  TEETH  191 

did  it  make  whether  they  considered  him  honest  or 
not?  Would  they  feel  any  more  kindly  towards 
his  honest  old  father  when  he  had  proved  that  he 
had  been  faithful  to  the  end?  No,  they  thought 
they  were  virtuous  and  only  denouncing  injustice, 
but  when  that  charge  was  taken  out  of  their  mouths 
they  would  clack  on  out  of  jealousy  at  his  success. 
It  was  envy  that  really  poisoned  their  minds  and 
made  them  spit  forth  spleen,  envy  and  chagrin 
at  their  own  lack  of  foresight. 

The  Paymaster  dump  had  lain  right  at  their 
doorway  where  all  of  them  could  inspect  its  ore, 
but  no  one  had  noticed  the  heavy  spar.  They 
had  called  it  white  quartz  and  dismissed  it  from  their 
minds,  but  he  had  come  among  them  with  dif- 
ferent eyes.  He  had  gone  to  a  school  of  mines, 
where  he  had  learned  to  identify  minerals,  and  he 
had  kept  up  with  the  mining  magazines;  and  while 
these  poisonous  knockers  had  been  lamenting  the 
results  of  the  war  he  had  jumped  in  and  turned  it 
to  his  advantage.  He  had  done  something  prac- 
tical, to  the  improvement  of  industry,  something 
that  might  change  in  a  certain  measure,  the  very 
destiny  of  the  world;  but  the  moment  he  suc- 
ceeded they  had  accused  him  of  robbing  half-wits 
and  of  oppressing  the  widow  and  the  orphan. 
Wiley  shut  down  his  jaws  and  smiled  dourly. 

There  was  small  hope  now  of  changing  the  widow 
and  her  "orphan"  but  if  he  could  not  convert  them 
he  could  show  them.  As  sure  as  he  knew  anything 
he  was  convinced  that  Colonel  Huff  had  simply 


i92  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

fled  from  his  wife's  nagging  tongue  and,  when 
he  got  the  time,  Wiley  intended  to  hire  a  pack- 
train  and  set  out  across  Death  Valley  to  find  him. 
Virginia  came  and  went,  but  always  she  avoided 
him  scrupulously.  Not  once  since  she  had  returned 
from  Vegas  had  she  met  his  questioning  eyes;  and 
to  all  his  advances  she  turned  a  deaf  ear,  if  the 
statements  of  Charley  could  be  trusted.  The  care- 
fully thought  out  scheme  of  getting  back  the  HufF 
stock  and  then  forming  an  alliance  against  Blount 
had  died  before  it  was  born;  or  it  remained  at  best 
in  suspended  animation,  pending  Death  Valley 
Charley's  return.  He  had  gone  off  with  his  burros 
but  the  longer  Wiley  waited  on  him  the  more  he 
saw  that  Charley  was  a  broken  reed.  No,  the 
trimming  of  Blount,  if  it  was  done  at  all,  would 
have  to  be  done  by  him — and  all  he  needed  was 
time. 

Two  months  and  a  little  more  lay  between  him 
and  the  day  of  reckoning — the  twentieth  day  of 
May.  In  that  short  time  he  must  meet  heavy 
obligations,  pay  off  his  notes,  buy  Blount's  stock 
and  purchase  the  mine;  and  if  anything  should 
happen — if  the  hoist  should  break  down,  the  mill 
blow  up,  the  market  for  tungsten  fail — well,  he 
could  kiss  the  Paymaster  goodby.  The  market 
and  other  influences  were  on  the  knees  of  the  gods, 
but  Wiley  decided  that  there  should  be  no  more 
accidents.  That  was  something  preventable  and 
no  more  love-sick  engineers  were  going  to  use 
his    gearings    for    a    clothes    mangle.     He    engaged 


THE  DRAGON'S  TEETH  193 

two  watchmen  who  were  mechanics  as  well  and 
then  he  kept  watch  over  his  watchmen.  Neither 
by  day  nor  by  night  did  he  go  down  the  hill  for 
more  than  a  few  minutes  at  a  time  and  on  dark, 
stormy  nights  he  wandered  about  like  a  specter 
watching  the  shadows  for  Stiff  Neck  George.  He 
was  out  there  somewhere,  Wiley  knew  it  as  in- 
stinctively as  he  knew  that  Virginia  hated  him, 
and  yet  he  never  appeared.  He  never  made  threats 
nor  showed  himself  in  the  open  but,  somewhere, 
he  was  out  there  in  the  darkness;  and  sooner  or 
later  he  would  strike. 

The  days  dragged  on  slowly,  with  cold,  March 
winds  and  sandstorms  boiling  in  over  Shadow 
Mountain;  and  then  driving  rain  followed  by 
bright,  sunny  weather  and  struggling  flowers  in 
the  swales.  It  was  spring,  in  a  way,  but  not  the 
spring  of  yester-year,  with  its  songs  and  laughter 
and  high  hopes.  Wiley  felt  the  old  call  to  be  up 
and  away,  but  his  racer  remained  in  its  shed.  He 
paced  about  restlessly,  waiting  for  something  to 
happen,  observing  the  slightest  signs — and  then 
he  found  her  tracks  in  the  dust.  Virginia  had  come 
up  the  trail  in  the  night  and  had  gone  down  past 
the  mill.  He  knew  her  tracks  well  and,  among  the 
broad  brogans  of  the  miners,  they  stood  out  like 
the  footprints  of  a  fairy.  Wiley's  heart  leapt  up 
in  his  breast — and  then  it  stood  still.  Had  she 
come  as  an  enemy  or  a  friend  ? 

He  followed  her  trail  to  where  it  had  been  trampled 
out  by  the  watchman  in  making  his  regular  rounds; 


i94  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

and  then,  below  the  mill,  he  picked  it  up  again 
as  it  went  on  down  the  path.  Not  once  had  she 
hesitated  or  turned  from  the  beaten  trail,  but  she 
had  gone  down  after  the  graveyard  shift.  That 
went  on  at  eleven  and  her  tracks  were  superim- 
posed on  the  hob-nailed  boot-marks  of  the  miners. 
When  they  had  come  off  shift  they  had  trampled 
them  out  again,  except  for  a  print  here  and  there; 
and  by  the  color  of  the  dust  Wiley  shrewdly  judged 
that  she  had  visited  him  between  twelve  and  one. 
Between  the  windblown  footprints  of  the  night- 
shift  and  the  fresh  red  of  the  day  shift  as  they 
had  mounted  the  trail  at  seven,  her  high-arched 
steps  had  been  made  about  midnight,  for  the  dust 
had  been  whitened  by  the  air.  Wiley  followed 
them  silently,  trampling  them  out  as  he  went,  and 
that  night  as  the  graveyard  shift  came  on  he  slipped 
out  and  hid  by  the  trail.  What  kind  of  a  watch- 
man was  this,  who  let  a  woman  come  and  go  and 
never  even  saw  her  tracks  in  the  dust?  He  could 
watch  for  Virginia;  and  meanwhile,  incidentally, 
he  could  keep  tab  on  this  sleepy-headed  guard. 

The  chuh,  chuh  of  the  engine  echoed  loud  in  the 
canyon  as  the  hoist  brought  up  the  first  cars,  and 
then  the  rumble  of  the  trams  as  they  were  pushed 
down  the  track  and  the  clatter  of  the  ore  down 
the  grizzly.  A  sharp  blap,  blap,  from  the  com- 
pressor showed  that  the  machine-men  had  set  up 
their  drills;  and  beneath  all  the  rest  there  was 
the  hushed  rumble  of  the  mill  and  the  thunderous 
rhump,    rhumpy    of    the    rock-breaker.     It    was    a 


THE   DRAGON'S  TEETH  195 

ponderous  affair  of  the  old  jaw-type,  surmounted 
by  a  fly-wheel  of  a  full  ton's  weight  that  drove  it 
rhythmically  on;  and  as  Wiley  listened  it  made  a 
music  for  his  ears  as  sweet  as  any  bass  viol.  In 
this  mine  of  his  there  was  an  orchestration  of  busy 
sounds,  from  the  clang  of  the  bell  to  start  or  stop 
the  engine,  to  this  deep,  rumbling  undertone  of 
the  crusher;  and  every  clang  and  crunch  brought 
him  that  much  nearer  to  the  day  when  he  would 
be  free. 

He  took  shelter  within  the  black  mouth  of  a 
short  tunnel  by  the  trail  and  looked  out  at  his  little 
world — the  huge  mill,  dimly  lighted,  the  gaunt  gal- 
lows-frame against  the  sky,  and  the  sleeping  town 
below.  He  had  made  them  his  own  and  now  he 
must  fight  for  them;  and  watch  over  them,  day 
and  night.  Above  him  the  stars  shone  out  clean 
and  cold,  a  million  of  them  in  the  dry,  desert  air; 
and  in  the  east  the  half  moon  rose  up  slowly  above 
Gold  Hill,  where  the  wealth  of  ages  lay  hid.  It 
had  given  up  its  gold  but  his  hand  had  struck  the 
blow  that  would  open  up  its  treasure  vaults  of 
tungsten.  All  it  needed  now  was  watchfulness  and 
patience.  The  moon  rose  up  higher  and  he  dozed 
within  the  shadow  and  then  a  sound  brought  him 
to  with  a  start.  It  was  the  crunch  of  gravel  on  the 
trail  before  him  and  as  he  looked  out  he  saw  Vir- 
ginia. 


CHAPTER  XXII 
Virginia  Explains — Nothing 

SHE  was  covered  by  a  cloak  and  there  was  a 
man's  hat  on  her  head,  but  Wiley  knew  her 
— it  was  Virginia  Huff.  The  moon  had 
mounted  high  and  the  chill  of  the  morning  was 
in  the  air,  so  he  could  hardly  flatter  himself  that 
she  had  come  to  see  him.  Perhaps  it  was  just  to 
see  the  mine.  But  if,  beneath  that  cloak,  she 
carried  some  instrument  of  destruction — he  stepped 
out  and  watched  her  covertly.  She  tiptoed  up  the 
trail,  glancing  nervously  about  her,  starting  back 
as  a  trammer  dumped  his  ore;  and  then,  very 
slowly,  she  crept  past  his  house  and  disappeared 
in  the  direction  of  the  mill.  Instantly  he  whipped 
out  of  his  tunnel  and  started  after  her,  running 
swiftly  up  the  trail;  but  as  he  neared  the  summit 
she  came  catapulting  against  him,  running  as 
swiftly  the  other  way. 

"Here!  Stop!"  he  commanded  as  she  leapt 
back  with  a  stifled  scream  and  then  as  she  made 
a  dash  he  plunged  resolutely  after  her  and  caught 
her  like  a  child. 

"You  let  go  of  me!"  she  panted,  but  he  flung 

196 


VIRGINIA  EXPLAINS— NOTHING     197 

one  arm  about  her  and  held  both  her  hands  to 
her  side. 

"No,"  he  said,  and  she  struck  out  violently  only 
to  find  herself  clutched  the  tighter. 

"Wiley  Holman!"  she  exploded,  "if  you  don't 
let  me  go!    You'd  better — I  saw  a  man  back  there!" 

"It's  my  watchman,"  answered  Wiley.  "I  keep 
him  to  guard  the  mill.  But  what  are  you  doing  up 
here?" 

"No!  It  wasn't!  It  was  Stiff  Neck  George! 
And  he  had  something  heavy  in  his  hand!  You'd 
better  go  and  watch  him!" 

She  was  struggling  in  his  arms,  her  breath  hot 
against  his  cheek,  fear  and  rage  in  every  word, 
but  he  crushed  her  roughly  to  his  side. 

"Never  mind  about  George,"  he  said.  "What 
are  you  doing  up  here,  now?" 

"But  he'll  blow  up  your  mine!  I've  heard  him 
threaten  to!     I  just  came  up  to  tell  you!" 

"Oh,  that's  different !"  returned  Wiley,  relaxing 
his  grip,  "but  never  mind — my  watchman  will  get 
him." 

"No!  The  watchman  is  asleep — I  didn't  see 
him  anywhere!  Oh,  Wiley;  please  run  and  stop 
him!" 

"Nope,"  replied  Wiley,  "he  can  blow  the  whole 
mill  up — I  want  to  ask  you  a  question." 

He  released  her  reluctantly,  for  the  touch  of 
her  had  thrilled  him,  and  the  sweetness  of  her 
breath  on  his  cheek — but  she  darted  down  the 
trail  like  a  rabbit. 


i98  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"Here!  Wait!"  he  ordered  and  outran  her  in 
ten  jumps,  at  which  she  stooped  and  snatched  up 
a  rock. 

"Put  that  down!'1  he  said,  and  as  she  swung 
back  the  rock,  he  braved  it  and  caught  her  anyway. 
"Now,"  he  went  on,  trembling  from  the  smash  of 
the  blow,  but  holding  her  in  a  grip  of  steel,  "we'll 
see  what  all  this  is  about!" 

"You  will  not!"  she  hissed  back,  "because  I 
won't  answer  you  a  word!  And  I  hope  old  George 
ruins  your  mill!" 

"That's  all  right,"  he  said,  shaking  his  bloody 
head,  "but,  Judas,  you  did  smash  me  with  that 
stone!  After  that,  I  guess,  I've  got  something 
coming  to  me!'  And  he  reached  down  and  kissed 
her  lips. 

"You— stop!"  she  panted.  "Oh,  I— I'll  kill  you 
for  that!"     But  Wiley  only  laughed  recklessly. 

"All  right!"  he  said,  "what's  the  difference — 
I'd  die  happy!     I  almost  wish  you'd  hit  me  again." 

"Well,  I  will!"  she  threatened,  but  when  he 
released  her  she  drew  back  and  hung  her  head. 
"That  isn't  fair,"  she  said,  "you  know  I  can't  pro- 
tect myself,  and " 

"Well,  all  right,"  he  agreed,  "we'll  call  it  square 
then.  But — I  want  to  tell  you  something,  Vir- 
gmia. 

"Are  you  going  to  stand  here,"  she  burst  out 
sharply,  "and  let  him  blow  up  your  mill?" 

"Yes,  I  am,"  he  answered.  "I  don't  care  what 
happens  to  me  if  you  and  I    can    be    friends.     I 


VIRGINIA  EXPLAINS— NOTHING     199 

love  you,  Virginia,  you  know  it  as  well  as  I  do, 
and  that's  all  I  want  in  the  world.  Let's  just  be 
friends,  the  way  we  used  to  be  when  we  were  playing 
around  town  together.  Fve  been  trying  to  see  you 
for  months — it's  seemed  like  forty  years — and 
Virginia,  you've  got  to  listen  to  me!" 

He  paused  and  drew  nearer,  and  she  stood  waiting 
passively,  as  if  daring  him  to  touch  her  again; 
but  he  stooped  and  peered  into  her  face.  The 
night  was  not  dark  and  in  the  ghostly  moonlight 
he  could  see  the  cold  anger  in  her  eyes. 

"Yes,  I  know,"  he  said,  "you  hate  me  like  poison 
— but  Virginia,  this  is  going  too  far.  It's  all  right 
to  hate  me,  if  that's  the  way  you're  built,  but  you 
ought  to  give  me  a  chance.  It  looks  very  much  as 
if  you'd  come  up  here  to-night  to  do  some  damage 
to  my  mine;  but  I'll  let  that  pass  and  say  nothing 
about  it  if  you'll  only  give  me  a  chance.  Let  me 
tell  you  how  I  feel  and  then,  some  other  time ': 

"Well,  go  on,"  she  said,  "but  if  your  old  mine 
blows  up " 

"I  wish  it  would!"  he  burst  out  passionately. 
"If  it  would  make  any  difference,  I  wish  it  was 
blown  off  the  map.  I  can't  bear  to  fight  you,  Vir- 
ginia; it  makes  my  life  miserable,  and  I've  tried  to 
be  friendly  from  the  first.  But  is  it  right  to  blame 
a  man  for  something  he  can't  help  and  not  even 
give  him  a  chance  to  explain?  If  you  think  I've 
stolen  your  mine,  why,  go  ahead  and  say  so  and 
let  me  give  it  back.  I'll  do  it,  so  help  me  God, 
if  you'll  only  say  the  word." 


200  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"What  word?"  she  asked,  and  he  threw  out  his 
hands  in  a  helpless  appeal  to  her  pity. 

"Any  word,"  he  said,  "so  long  as  it's  friendly. 
But  I  just  can't  stand  it  to  be  without  you!' 

"Oh,"  she  said,  and  looked  back  up  the  trail 
as  if  meditating  another  dash  to  escape. 

"Well,  what  is  it?"  he  asked  at  last.  "Won't 
you  even  listen  to  me?     I've  got  a  plan  to  propose.'3 

"Why,  certainly,"  she  responded,  "go  ahead 
and  tell  it.  And  then,  when  it's  done,  can  I 
go?" 

"Yes,  you  can  go,"  he  answered  eagerly,  "if 
you'll  only  just  listen  reasonably  and  think  what 
this  means  to  us  both.  We  used  to  be  friends, 
Virginia,  and  while  I  was  working  up  this  deal 
I  did  everything  I  could  to  help  you.  I  didn't 
have  much  money  then  or  I'd  have  done  more 
for  you,  but  you  know  my  heart  was  right.  I 
wasn't  trying  to  take  advantage  of  you.  But  the 
minute  I  got  the  mine  it  seems  as  if  everybody  turned 
against  me — and  you  turned  against  me,  too.  That 
hurt  me,  Virginia,  after  what  I'd  tried  to  do  for 
you,  but  I  know  you  had  your  reasons.  You 
blamed  me  for  things  that  I  never  had  done  and — 
well,  you  wouldn't  even  speak  to  me.  But  that 
was  all  right — it  was  perfectly  natural — and  on 
Christmas  I  sent  you  back  your  stock.  I  only 
bought  it  from  Charley  to  help  you  get  to  Los 
Angeles,  and  I  considered  that  I  was  holding  it  in 
trust;  so  I  sent  it  back  by  Charley,  but  I  sup- 
pose he  made  some  break,  because  I  found  it  on 


VIRGINIA  EXPLAINS— NOTHING     201 

my  table  that  night.  But  you'll  take  it  back 
now;  won't  you,  Virginia ?" 

His  voice  broke  like  a  boy's  in  the  earnestness 
of  his  appeal  and  yet  it  was  hopeless,  too,  for  he 
saw  that  she  stood  unmoved.  He  waited  for  an 
answer,  then  as  she  shifted  her  feet  impatiently 
he  went  on  with  dogged  persistence.  It  was  useless, 
he  knew  it;  and  yet,  sometime  in  the  future,  she 
might  recall  what  he  had  said  and  take  advantage 
of  it. 

"Well,  all  right,  then,"  he  assented,  "but  the 
stock's  yours  if  you  want  it.  I'm  holding  it  for 
you,  in  trust.  But  now  here's  what  I  wanted  to 
tell  you — I'd  hoped  we  could  do  it  together;  but 
you  ought  to  do  it,  anyway.  You  know  that  stock 
that  your  mother  lost  to  Blount?  Well,  I  know 
how  you  can  get  it  back." 

He  paused  for  her  to  speak,  to  exclaim  perhaps 
at  his  magnanimity  in  offering  to  help  her  against 
her  will,  but  she  shrouded  herself  pettishly  in  her 
cloak. 

"Oh,  you  don't  care,  eh?"  he  asked  with  a  bitter 
laugh.  "Well,  I  wish  to  God,  then,  I  didn't. 
But  I  do,  Virginia!  I  can't  stand  it  to  see  you 
slaving  when  there's  anything  in  the  world  that 
I  can  do.  Now  here's  the  proposition:  according 
to  law  your  father  isn't  legally  dead — he  won't  be 
for  seven  years — and  so  your  mother,  not  being 
his  heir  yet,  had  no  right  to  hypothecate  that 
stock.  It  still  belongs  to  your  father's  estate  and 
all  you  have  to  do  is  to  go  to  a  lawyer  and  demand 


202  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

the  property  back.  You're  his  daughter,  you  see, 
and  a  co-heir  with  your  mother,  and  Blount  will 
not  dare  to  oppose  it!' 

"Yes,  thanks,"  returned  Virginia.     "Is  that  all?" 

"Why — no!"  he  said  at  last,  clutching  his  hands 
at  his  side.  "There's — I'll  lend  you  the  money, 
Virginia." 

"No,  thank  you!"  she  answered,  and  started 
off  down  the  trail,  but  he  stepped  in  her  way  and 
stopped  her.  His  mood  had  changed,  for  his  voice 
was  rough  and  threatening,  but  he  struggled  to 
keep  it  down. 

"Is  that  all?"  he  demanded  and  without  waiting 
for  the  answer  he  reached  out  and  caught  her  by 
the  arm.  "Virginia,"  he  said,  "I've  tried  to  be 
good  to  you,  but  maybe  you  don't  appreciate  it. 
And  maybe  I've  made  a  mistake.  There's  some- 
thing about  you  when  I'm  around  that  reminds  me 
of  a  man  with  a  grouch — only  a  man  would  speak 
out  his  mind.  Now  I've  given  you  a  chance  to 
clean  up  twenty  thousand  dollars  and  I  expect 
something  more  than:  'No,  thanks!'" 

"Well,  what  do  you  expect?"  she  asked,  struggling 
feebly  against  his  grasp. 

"I  expect,"  he  answered,  "that  you'll  state  your 
grievance  and  tell  me  why  you  won't  have  me?' 

"And  if  I  do,  will  you  let  me  go?' 

"When  I  get  good  and  ready,"  he  responded 
grimly.  "I  don't  know  whether  I'm  in  love  with 
you  or  not." 

"Well,    my   grievance,"    she   went   on    defiantly, 


VIRGINIA  EXPLAINS-NOTHING     203 

"is  that  you  went  to  work  deliberately  and  robbed 
me  and  mother  of  our  mine.  And  as  for  winning 
me>  that's  one  thing  you  can't  steal — and  I'll  kill 
you  if  you  don't  let  go  of  that  hand!" 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "I've  heard  that  before — it  seems 
to  run  in  the  family.  But  don't  you  think  for  a 
minute  that  I'm  afraid  of  getting  killed — or  that 
I'm  trying  to  steal  you,  either.  If  you  were  an 
Indian  squaw  you  might  be  worth  stealing,  because 
I  could  beat  a  little  sense  into  your  head;  but  the 
way  things  are  now  I'll  just  turn  you  loose — and 
kindly  keep  off  my  ground." 

He  flung  back  her  hand  and  stepped  out  of  the 
trail  but  Virginia  did  not  pass.  Her  breast  heaved 
tumultuously  and  she  turned  upon  him  as  she 
sought  for  a  fitting  retort;  but  while  they  stood 
panting,  each  glowering  at  the  other,  there  was  a 
crash  from  inside  the  old  mill.  Its  huge  bulk  was 
lit  up  by  a  flash  of  light  which  went  out  in  Stygian 
darkness  and  as  they  listened,  aghast,  the  ground 
trembled  beneath  them  and  a  tearing  roar  filled  the 
air.  It  began  at  the  stone-breaker  and  went  down 
through  the  mill,  like  the  progress  of  a  devastating 
host,  and  as  Wiley  sprang  forward,  there  was  a 
terrifying  smash  which  seemed  to  shake  the  mill 
to  its  base.  Then  all  was  silent  and  as  he  looked 
around  he  saw  Virginia  dancing  off  down  the  trail. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
On  Demand 

IF  there  was  anything  left  of  his  mill  but  the 
frame,  Wiley's  ears  had  played  him  false; 
and  yet  he  stood  and  looked  after  Virginia. 
This  grinding  crash,  this  pandemonium  of  destruc- 
tion which  had  left  him  sick  with  fear,  had  put 
joy  into  her  dancing  feet.  Yes,  she  had  danced — 
like  a  child  that  hears  good  news  or  runs  to  meet 
its  father — and  he  had  thought  her  worthy  of  his 
love!  He  had  battered  his  brain  for  weeks  to  devise 
some  plan  whereby  he  could  make  his  peace;  he 
had  taken  her  blows  like  a  dog;  and  she  had  an- 
swered with  this.  Whether  it  was  Stiff  Neck  George 
or  some  other  man,  she  had  known  both  his  pres- 
ence and  his  purpose;  and  now  she  rejoiced  in  the 
catastrophe.  A  hundred  dollars  would  buy  him  a 
squaw  more  worthy  of  confidence  and  love. 

There  was  darkness  in  the  mill,  but  when  they 
brought  the  flares,  Wiley  saw  that  the  ruin  was 
complete.  From  the  rock  breaker  to  the  con- 
centrators there  was  nothing  but  splintered  wood, 
twisted  iron  and  upturned  tanks;  and  the  demon 
of  destruction  which  had  raged  down  through  its 
length  was  nothing  but  the  fly-wheel  of  the  rock 

204 


ON   DEMAND  205 

crusher.  What  power  had  uprooted  it  he  was  at 
a  loss  to  conjecture  but,  a  full  ton  in  weight,  it 
had  jumped  '  from  its  frame  and  plowed  its  way 
down  through  the  mill,  The  ore-bins  were  intact, 
for  the  fly-wheel  had  overleapt  them,  but  tables 
and  tanks  and  concentrating  jigs  were  utterly 
smashed  and  ruined.  Even  the  wall  of  the  mill 
had  given  way  before  it  and  the  cold  light  of  dawn 
crept  in  through  a  jagged  aperture  that  marked  its 
resistless  course.  The  fly-wheel  was  gone  and  the 
damage  was  done;  but  there  was  still,  of  course, 
the  post  mortem.  What  had  caused  that  massive 
shafting,  with  its  ponderous  speeding  wTheels,  to 
leap  from  its  bearings  and  go  crashing  down  the 
descent,  laying  everything  before  it  in  ruins?  Wiley 
summoned  his  engineer  and,  in  the  shattered  jaws 
of  the  rock-breaker,  they  found  the  innocent-looking 
instrument  of  destruction.  It  was  not  a  stick  of 
dynamite,  but  a  heavy  steel  sledge-hammer  that  had 
been  cast  into  the  jaws  of  the  crusher.  They 
had  closed  down  upon  it,  the  hammer  had  resisted, 
and  then  all  the  momentum  of  that  whirling  double 
fly-wheel  had  been  brought  to  bear  against  it. 
Yet  the  hammer  could  not  be  crushed  and,  as  the 
wheel  had  applied  its  weight,  the  resistance  to  its 
force  had  caused  it  to  leap  from  its  bearings  and 
go  hurtling  down  the  incline. 

It  was  a  very  complete  job,  even  better  than 
dynamiting,  and  yet  Wiley  did  not  blame  it  on 
Stiff  Neck  George,  Some  miner,  some  millman, 
who  had   seen  it  done  before,   had   repeated   the 


206  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

performance  for  his  benefit.  Or  was  it,  perhaps, 
for  Virginia's?  He  remembered  the  engineer  who 
had  fed  his  greasy  overalls  into  the  gearings  of  the 
hoist.  He  had  boarded  with  Virginia  and  had 
waved  her  a  parting  kiss — but  this  time  it  would 
be  some  trammer.  Wiley  gave  them  all  their  time 
on  general  principles,  but  he  did  not  go  down  to 
witness  the  farewell.  Whether  the  trammer  kissed 
her  goodby  or  simply  kissed  her  hand  was  im- 
material to  him  now — and,  in  case  it  might  have 
been  a  millman  or  some  miner  underground,  he  laid 
off  the  whole  night  shift.  The  night-watchman 
went  too,  and  the  stage  the  following  evening  brought 
out  a  cook  to  start  up  the  boarding-house. 

Wiley  did  not  guess  it — he  knew  it — Virginia 
Huff  was  the  witch  who  had  mixed  the  hell-broth 
that  had  raised  up  all  this  treachery  against  him. 
She  had  poisoned  his  men's  minds  and  incited  them 
to  vandalism,  but  it  would  not  happen  again.  He 
had  been  a  fool  to  endure  it  so  long;  but  she  could 
starve  now,  for  all  that  he  cared.  If  she  thought 
she  could  twist  him  like  a  ring  around  her  finger 
while  she  egged  on  these  men  to  wreck  his  mill, 
she  had  one  more  guess  coming  and  then  she  would 
be  right,  for  he  had  come  to  his  senses  at  last.  This 
was  not  the  Virginia  that  he  had  known  and  loved 
— the  Virginia  he  had  played  with  in  his  youth — 
but  a  warped  and  embittered  Virginia,  a  waspish, 
heartless  vixen  who  had  never  been  anything  but 
cold.  She  had  worked  him  deliberately,  resorting 
to  woman's  wiles  to  gain  what  was  not  her  due, 


ON  DEMAND  207 

and  now  when  his  mill  was  smashed  into  kindling 
wood,  she  danced  and  laughed  for  joy. 

What  kind  of  a  mind  could  a  woman  have,  to 
do  such  a  senseless  thing  and  then  laugh  at  the 
man  who  had  helped  her?  She  was  kind  to  her  cats, 
the  neighbors  all  liked  her,  to  everyone  else  she 
seemed  human;  but  when  it  came  to  him  she  was 
a  devil  of  hate,  a  fiend  of  ruthless  cunning.  She 
would  tell  him  to  his  face — at  three  in  the  morning, 
when  he  had  caught  her  running  away  from  the 
mill — that  she  hoped  his  old  mill  would  be  ruined. 
And  now,  when  the  trammer  or  some  other  soft- 
head had  sent  one  of  his  sledges  through  the  crusher, 
she  was  laughing  up  her  sleeve.  But  there  was  a 
hereafter  coming  for  Virginia  and  her  mother  and 
they  would  get  no  more  favors  from  him.  If  they 
crept  to  his  feet  and  said  they  were  starving  he 
would  tell  them  to  get  out  and  hustle.  Meanwhile 
they  had  sent  him  broke. 

There  would  be  no  more  ore  concentrated  in  the 
Paymaster  mill  during  the  life  of  his  bond  and  lease; 
and  unless  he  could  raise  some  money,  and  raise 
it  quick,  he  was  due  to  lose  his  mine.  Whether  he 
had  abetted  it  or  not,  Blount  would  not  fail  to  take 
advantage  of  this  last,  staggering  blow  to  his  fortunes; 
and  there  were  notes  and  paper  due  which  would 
easily  serve  as  a  pretext  for  a  writ  of  attachment 
on  his  mine.  Bad  news  travels  fast,  but  Wiley 
set  out  to  beat  it  by  snatching  at  his  one  remaining 
chance.  His  mill  was  ruined,  his  output  was  stopped, 
but   he   still   had   the   ore    underground — and    the 


208  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

buyers  were  crazy  to  get  it.  He  sent  out  identical 
messages  to  ten  big  consumers  and  then  sat  down 
to  await  the  results.  They  came  with  a  rush, 
ten  scrambling  frantic  bids  for  his  total  output  for 
one  year — and  one  of  them  was  for  eighty-four 
dollars!  It  was  from  the  biggest  buyer  of  them 
all,  a  man  who  was  reputed  to  be  the  representative 
of  a  foreign  government,  a  man  who  had  paid 
cash  on  the  nail.  Wiley  pondered  a  while,  looked 
up  his  obligations  to  Blount,  and  accepted  imme- 
diately by  wire.  But  there  was  one  proviso — -he 
demanded  an  advance  payment,  which  the  buyer 
promptly  wired  to  his  bank.  Then  Wiley  twisted 
up  his  lip  and  waited. 

Blount  appeared  the  next  day,  dropping  in  casually 
as  was  his  wont;  but  there  was  a  cold,  killing  look 
in  his  eye  and  he  had  a  deputy  sheriff  as  a  witness. 
They  looked  through  the  mill  and  Blount  asked 
several  leading  questions  before  he  ventured  to 
come  to  the  point,  but  at  last  he  cleared  his  throat 
and  spoke  up. 

"Well,  Wiley,"  he  said,  drawing  some  papers 
from  his  pocket,  "I'm  sorry,  but  I'll  have  to  call 
your  notes.  If  it  were  my  money  it  would  be  dif- 
ferent; but  I'm  a  banker,  you  understand,  and 
your  paper  is  long  overdue.  I've  extended  it  before 
because  I  admired  your  courage  and  thought  you 
might  possibly  pull  through,  but  this  accident  to 
your  mill  has  impaired  the  property  and  I  can't 
let  it  run  any  longer." 


ON  DEMAND  209 

"Oh,  that's  all  right,"  said  Wiley,  "but  you 
don't  need  to  apologize,  because  there  won't  be  any 
attachments  and  judgments.  Just  tell  me  how 
much  it  comes  to  and  I'll  write  you  out  a  check." 
He  took  the  notes  from  Blount's  palsied  hand  and 
spread  them  on  the  desk  before  him,  but  as  he  was 
jotting  down  the  totals  Blount  grabbed  them 
wildly  away. 

"Not  much!"  he  exclaimed,  "I  don't  surrender 
those  notes  until  the  money  is  put  in  my  hands! 
Your  check  isn't  worth  a  pen  stroke!" 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  returned  Wiley.  "There 
may  be  two  opinions  about  that.  I  had  a  hunch, 
Mr.  Blount,  that  you  might  spring  something 
like  this  and  so  I  made  arrangements  to  accom- 
modate you." 

"But   you're   strapped!    You   owe   everybody!' 
cried  Blount  in  a  passion.     "I  don't  believe  you've 
got  a  cent!" 

"Just  a  minute,"  said  Wiley,  and  took  down  his 
telephone.  "Hello,"  he  called,  "get  me  the  First 
National  Bank."  He  waited  then,  twiddling  his 
pencil  placidly,  while  Blount's  great  neck  swelled 
out  with  venorn.  "I  figure,"  went  on  Wiley,  as 
he  waited  for  the  connection,  "that  I  owe  you 
twenty-two  thousand  dollars,  with  interest  amount- 
ing to  two-eighty-three,  sixty-one.  Here's  your 
check,  all  filled  out,  and  when  I  get  the  bank  you 
can  ask  the  cashier  if  it's  good." 

"But,  Wiley — ,"  began  Blount. 


zio  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"Hello!  Hello!  Is  this  the  First  National? 
This  is  Holman,  out  at  the  Paymaster.  Mr. 
Blount  is  here  and,  as  I'm  closing  my  account  with 
him " 

"No!  No!"  cried  Blount  in  a  panic,  but  Wiley 
went  on  with  his  talk. 

'Yes,"  he  said,  "the  check  is  for  twenty-two 
thousand,  two  eighty-three,  sixty-one.  Will  you 
please  set  that  amount  aside  to  meet  the  payment 
on  this  check?  All  right,  Mr.  Blount,  here's  the 
bank." 

He  held  out  the  instrument  and  Blount  seized 
it  roughly,  for  he  had  heard  of  fake  telephone 
messages  before,  but  when  he  listened  he  recog- 
nized the  voice. 

"Oh,  Agnew?"  he  hailed,  smiling  genially  at  the 
'phone.  "Well,  sorry  to  have  troubled  you,  I'm  sure. 
Oh,  yes,  yes;  I  know  Wiley  is  all  right;  he's  good 
with  us  for  twenty  thousand  more.  No,  never 
mind  the  certification;  we  may  let  the  matter  drop. 
Yes,  thank  you  very  much — goodby!" 

He  hung  up  the  receiver  and  turned  to  Wiley; 
but  the  cold,  killing  look  was  gone. 

"Wiley,"  he  chuckled,  slapping  him  heartily  on 
the  back,  "you  certainly  have  put  one  over.  It 
isn't  every  day  that  I  find  a  man  waiting  with  the 
check  all  made  out  to  a  cent;  and  somehow — well, 
I  hate  to  take  the  money." 

"Yes,  I  know  how  you  suffer,"  replied  Wiley, 
grimly,  "but  let's  get  the  agony  over."     He  held 


ON  DEMAND  211 

out  the  check  and  Blount  accepted  it  reluctantly, 
passing  over  the  notes  with  a  sigh. 

But  for  the  trifling  detail  that  "demand"  had 
not  been  waived  Blount  could  have  gone  into 
court  without  even  asking  for  his  money  and  se- 
cured an  attachment  against  the  property.  But 
Wiley's  firm  insistence  that  all  cut-throat  clauses 
should  be  omitted  had  compelled  Blount  to  de- 
mand payment  on  the  notes;  and  then,  by  some 
process  which  still  remained  a  mystery,  he  had 
raised  the  full  amount  to  meet  the  payment.  And 
so  once  more,  after  going  to  all  the  trouble  of 
bringing  a  deputy  sheriff  along,  Blount  found  him- 
self balked  and  his  dreams  of  judgment  and  lien 
permanently  banished  to  the  limbo  of  lost  hopes. 

Wiley's  over-prompt  payment  had  confused  Blount 
for  the  moment  and  thrown  him  into  a  panic.  He 
had  counted  confidently  upon  crushing  him  at  a 
blow  and  cutting  short  his  inimical  activities,  but 
now  of  a  sudden  he  found  himself  threatened  with 
the  loss  of  all  his  interests.  If  Wiley  had  made 
profits  beyond  his  calculations — but  no,  he  could 
not,  for  under  the  terms  of  their  bond  and  lease 
one-tenth  of  the  net  profit  on  all  his  shipments 
was  sent  direct  to  Blount.  And  if  what  Wiley  had 
received  was  only  ten  times  the  Company's  royalty, 
he  was  still  in  debt  to  someone.  Blount  had 
followed  him  closely  and  he  knew  that  his  expenses 
had  absorbed  all  his  profits,  up  to  date.  But  per- 
haps— and  Blount  paused — perhaps  the  other  bank, 


212  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

or  some  outside  parties,  were  backing  him  in  his 
enterprise.  He  would  have  to  look  that  matter 
up — first.  But  if  not — if  he  was  still  running  his 
mine  as  he  had  from  the  first,  on  his  nerve  and 
his  diamond  ring — then  there  were  ways  and 
means  which  should  be  speedily  invoked  to  pre- 
vent him  from  meeting  his  payments. 

Scarcely  a  month  remained  before  the  bond 
and  lease  lapsed — and  Wiley's  option  on  Blount's 
personal  stock — but  any  day  he  might  raise  the 
money  and,  by  taking  over  Blount's  stock,  place 
him  out  of  the  running  for  good.  These  tungsten 
buyers  who  were  so  avid  for  its  product  might 
purchase  an  interest  in  the  mine;  they  might 
advance  the  fifty  thousand  and  take  it  over  under 
the  bond  and  lease,  and  bring  all  his  plans  to 
naught.  As  Blount  paced  about  the  office  he 
suddenly  saw  himself  defrauded  of  that  which  he 
had  worked  for  for  years.  He  saw  his  stock  bought 
up  first,  to  deprive  him  of  the  royalties,  and  then 
the  mine  snatched  from  his  hands;  and  all  he  would 
have  left  would  be  the  forfeited  HufF  stock  and 
the  small  payment  it  would  earn  from  the  sale. 
Something  would  have  to  be  done,  and  done  every 
minute,  to  prevent  him  from  carrying  out  his 
purpose. 

Blount  paused  in  his  nervous  pacing  and  held 
out  a  flabby  hand  to  Wiley,  who  was  writing  away 
at  his  desk. 

"Well,   Wiley,"    he   said,    "I    guess   I    must   be 


ON  DEMAND  213 

going.     But  any  time  you  need  money "    He 

stopped  and  smiled  amiably,  in  the  soft,  easy  way 
he  had  when  he  wished  to  appear  harmless  as  a 
dove,  and  Wiley  glanced  up  briefly  from  his  work. 

"Yes,  thank  you,  Mr.  Blount,"  he  said.     But  he 
did  not  take  his  hand. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 
Double  Trouble 

THE  next  two  weeks  of  Wiley  Holman's  life 
were  packed  so  full  of  trouble  that  there 
were  those  who  almost  pitied  him,  though 
the  word  had  been  passed  around  to  lay  off.  It 
was  Samuel  J.  Blount  who  was  making  the  trouble, 
and  who  notified  the  rest  to  keep  out,  and  so  great 
was  his  influence  in  all  the  desert  country  that  no 
one  dared  to  interfere.  What  he  did  was  all  legal 
and  according  to  business  ethics,  but  it  gloved 
the  iron  hand.  Blount  was  reaching  for  the  mine 
and  he  intended  to  get  it,  if  he  had  to  crush  his 
man.  The  attachments  and  suits  were  but  the 
shadow  boxing  of  the  bout;  the  rough  stuff  was  held 
in  reserve.  And  somehow  Wiley  sensed  this,  for  he 
sat  tight  at  the  mine  and  hired  a  lawyer  to  meet 
the  suits.  His  job  was  mining  ore  and  he  shoveled 
it  out  by  the  ton. 

The  distressing  accidents  had  suddenly  ceased 
since  he  began  to  board  his  own  men  at  the  mine 
and,  while  his  lawyer  stalled  and  haggled  to  fight 
off  an  injunction,  he  rushed  his  ore  to  the  railroad. 
It  was  too  precious  to  ship  loose,  for  at  eighty-four 

214 


DOUBLE  TROUBLE  215 

dollars  a  unit  it  was  worth  over  four  dollars  a 
pound;  he  sent  it  out  sacked,  with  an  armed  guard 
on  each  truck  to  see  that  it  was  delivered  and 
receipted  for.  As  the  checks  came  back  he  paid 
off  all  his  debts,  thus  depriving  Blount  of  his  favorite 
club;  and  then,  while  Blount  was  casting  about  for 
new  weapons,  he  began  to  lay  aside  his  profits. 

They  rolled  up  monstrously,  for  each  five-ton 
truck  load  added  several  thousand  dollars  to  his 
bank  account,  but  the  time  was  getting  short. 
Less  than  three  weeks  remained  before  the  bond 
and  lease  expired,  and  still  Wiley  was  playing  to 
win.  He  crammed  his  mine  with  men,  snatching 
the  ore  from  the  stopes  as  the  bonanza  leasers  had 
done  at  Tonopah,  and  doubling  the  miner's  pay 
with  bonuses.  Every  truck  driver  received  his 
bonus,  and  night  and  day  the  great  motors  went 
thundering  across  the  desert.  The  ore  came  up 
from  below  and  was  dumped  on  a  jig,  where  it 
was  sorted  and  hastily  sacked;  and  after  that 
there  was  nothing  to  do  but  sent  it  under  guard 
to  che  railroad.  There  was  no  milling,  no  smelting, 
no  tedious  process  of  reduction;  but  the  raw  picked 
ore  was  rushed  to  the  East  and  the  checks  came 
promptly  back. 

Blount  was  fully  informed  now  of  the  terms  of 
his  contract  and  of  the  source  of  his  sudden  wealth, 
but  there  was  no  way  of  reaching  the  buyer.  A 
great  war  was  on,  every  minute  was  precious — and 
every  ounce  of  the  tungsten  was  needed.  The 
munitions  makers  could  not  pause  for  a  single  day 


216  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

in  their  mad  rush  to  fill  their  contracts.  The  only 
ray  of  hope  that  Blount  could  see  was  that  the 
price  had  broken  to  sixty  dollars  a  unit.  Wiley's 
contract  called  for  eighty-four,  throughout  the 
full  year — but  suppose  he  should  lose  his  mine. 
And  suppose  Blount  should  win  it.  He  could 
offer  better  terms,  provided  always  that  the  buyer 
would  accommodate  him  now.  Suppose,  for  in- 
stance, that  the  fat  daily  checks  should  cease 
coming  during  the  life  of  the  lease.  That  could 
easily  be  explained — it  might  be  an  error  in  book- 
keeping— but  it  would  make  quite  a  difference  to 
Wiley.  And  in  return  for  some  such  favor  Blount 
could  afford  to  sell  the  tungsten  for,  say,  fifty-five 
dollars  a  unit. 

Blount  was  a  careful  man.  He  did  not  trust  his 
message  to  the  wires,  nor  did  he  put  it  on  paper 
to  convict  him;  he  simply  disappeared — but  when 
he  came  back  Wiley's  lawyer  was  waiting  with  a 
check.  It  was  for  twenty  thousand  dollars,  and 
in  return  for  this  payment  the  lawyer  demanded 
all  of  Blount's  stock.  Four  hundred  thousand 
shares,  worth  five  dollars  apiece  if  the  bond  and 
lease  should  lapse,  and  called  for  under  the  option 
at  five  cents!  In  those  few  short  days,  while 
Blount  had  been  speeding  East,  Wiley  had  piled 
up  this  profit  and  more — and  now  he  was  demand- 
ing his  stock! 

"No!"  said  Blount,  "that  option  is  invalid  be- 
cause it  was  obtained  by  deception  and  fraud,  and 
therefore  I  refuse  to  recognize  it." 


DOUBLE  TROUBLE  217 

"Very  well,"  replied  the  lawyer,  who  made 
his  living  out  of  controversies,  and,  summoning 
witnesses  to  his  offer,  he  placed  the  money  in  the 
hands  of  the  court  and  plunged  into  furious  liti- 
gation. It  was  furious,  in  a  way,  and  yet  not 
so  furious  as  the  next  day  and  the  next  passed 
by;  for  the  lawyer  was  a  business  man  and  de- 
pendent upon  the  good  will  of  Blount.  It  was  a 
civil  suit  and,  since  Wiley  could  not  appear  to 
state  his  case  in  Court,  it  was  postponed  by  mutual 
consent. 

It  had  come  over  Wiley  that,  as  long  as  he  stood 
guard,  no  accident  would  happen  at  the  mine; 
but  he  was  equally  convinced  that,  the  moment 
he  left  it,  the  unexpected  would  happen.  So, 
since  Blount  had  elected  to  fight  his  suit,  he  let 
the  fate  of  his  option  wait  while  he  piled  up  money 
for  his  coup.  As  an  individual,  Blount  might 
resist  the  sale  of  his  stock;  but  as  President  of  the 
Company  he  and  his  Board  of  Directors  had  given 
Wiley  a  valid  bond  and  lease  and,  acting  under 
its  terms,  Wiley  still  had  an  opportunity  to  gain 
a  clear  title  to  the  mine.  What  happened  to 
the  stock  could  be  thrashed  out  later,  but  with 
the  Paymaster  in  his  possession  he  could  laugh 
his  enemies  to  scorn — and  he  did  not  intend  to 
be  jumped!  Fcr  who  could  tell,  among  these 
men  who  swarmed  about  him,  which  ones  might 
be  hired  emissaries  of  Blount;  and,  once  he  was 
out  of  sight,  they  might  seize  the  mine  and  hold 
it  against  all  comers. 


2i8  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

It  was  a  thing  which  had  been  done  before,  and 
was  likely  to  be  done  again;  and  as  the  days  slipped 
by,  bringing  him  closer  to  the  end,  he  looked  about 
for  some  agent.  Had  he  a  man  that  he  could 
trust  to  hold  the  mine,  while  he  went  into  town  to 
gain  title  to  it?  He  looked  them  all  over  but, 
knowing  Blount  as  he  did,  and  the  weakness  of 
human  nature,  he  hesitated  and  decided  against 
it.  No,  it  was  better  by  far  that  he  should  hold 
the  mine — for  possession,  in  mining,  is  everything 
— and  send  someone  to  pay  over  the  money.  That 
would  be  perfectly  legal,  and  anyone  could  do  it, 
but  here  again  he  hesitated.  The  zeal  of  his  lawyer 
was  failing  of  late — could  he  trust  him  to  make 
the  payment,  in  a  town  that  was  owned  by  Blount? 
Would  he  offer  it  legally  and  demand  a  legal  sur- 
render, and  come  out  and  put  the  deed  in  his  hand? 
He  might,  but  Wiley  doubted  it. 

There  was  something  going  on  regarding  the 
payments  for  his  shipments  which  he  was  unable 
to  straighten  out  over  the  'phone,  and  his  lawyer 
was  neglecting  even  that.  And  yet,  if  those  checks 
were  held  up  much  longer  it  might  seriously  inter- 
fere with  his  payment.  He  had  wired  repeatedly, 
but  either  the  messages  were  not  delivered  or  his 
buyer  was  trying  to  welch  on  his  contract.  What 
he  wanted  was  an  agent,  to  go  directly  to  the 
buyer  and  get  the  matter  adjusted.  Wiley  thought 
the  matter  over,  then  he  'phoned  his  lawyer  to 
forget  it  and  wrote  direct  to  an  express  com- 
pany, enclosing  his  bills  of  lading  and  authorizing 


DOUBLE  TROUBLE  219 

them  to  collect  the  account.  When  it  came  to 
collecting  bills  you  could  trust  the  express  com- 
pany— and  you  could  trust  Uncle  Sam  with  your 
mail — but  as  to  the  people  in  Vegas,  and  especially 
the  telephone  girl,  he  had  his  well-established  doubts. 
His  telegraphic  messages  went  cut  over  the  'phone 
and  were  not  a  matter  of  record  and  if  she  hap- 
pened to  be  eating  a  box  of  Blount's  candy  she 
might  forget  to  relay  them.  It  was  borne  in  upon 
him,  in  fact,  more  strongly  every  day,  that  there 
are  very  few  people  you  can  trust.  With  a  suit- 
case, yes — but  with  a  mine  worth  millions?  That 
calls  for  something  more  than  common  honesty. 

The  fight  for  the  Paymaster,  and  Wiley's  race 
against  time,  was  now  on  every  tongue,  and  as  the 
value  of  the  property  went  up  there  was  a  sud- 
den flurry  in  the  stock.  Men  who  had  hoarded 
it  secretly  for  eight  and  ten  years,  men  who  had 
moved  to  the  ends  of  the  world,  all  heard  of  the 
fabulous  wealth  of  the  new  Paymaster  and  wrote 
in  to  offer  their  stock.  Not  to  offer  it,  exactly, 
but  to  place  it  on  record;  and  others  began  as 
quietly  to  buy.  It  was  known  that  the  royalties 
had  piled  up  an  accruing  dividend  of  at  least  twenty 
cents  a  share;  and  with  the  sale  of  it  imminent — 
and  a  greater  rise  coming  in  case  there  was  no 
sale — there  would  be  a  further  increase  in  value. 
It  was  good,  in  fact,  for  thirty  cents  cash,  with  a 
gambling  chance  up  to  five  dollars;  and  the  wise 
ones  began  to  buy.  Men  he  had  not  seen  for 
years  dropped  in  on  Wiley  to  ask  his  advice  about 


220  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

their  stock;  and  one  evening  in  his  office,  he  looked 
up  from  his  work  to  see  the  familiar  face  of  Death 
Valley  Charley. 

"Hello  there,  Charley,"  he  said,   still  working. 
Awful  busy.     What  is  it  you  want?" 

Virginia  wants  her  stock,"  answered  Charley 
simply  and  blinked  as  he  stood  waiting  the  answer. 
There  was  a  war  on  now  between  the  Huffs  and 
Holmans  into  which  Wiley's  father  had  been  drawn; 
and  since  Honest  John  had  repudiated  his  son's 
acts  and  disclaimed  all  interest  in  his  deal,  Charley 
knew  that  Wiley  was  bitter.  He  had  cut  off  the 
Widow  from  her  one  source  of  revenue  but,  when 
she  had  accused  him  of  doing  it  for  his  father, 
Wiley  had  forgotten  the  last  of  his  chivalry.  Not 
only  did  he  board  all  his  men  himself  but  he  prom- 
ised to  fire  any  man  he  had  who  was  seen  taking 
a  meal  at  the  Widow's.  It  was  war  to  the  knife, 
and  Charley  knew  it,  but  he  blinked  his  eyes  and 
stood  firm. 

"What  stock?"  demanded  Wiley,  and  then  he 
closed  his  lips  and  his  eyes  turned  fighting  gray. 
"You  tell  her,"  he  said,  "if  she  wants  her  stock, 
to  come  and  get  it  herself." 

"But  she  sent  me  to  get  it!"  objected  Charley 
obstinately. 

"Yes,  and  I  send  you  back,"  answered  Wiley. 
"I  gave  her  that  stock  twice,  and  I  made  it  what 
it  is,  and  if  she  wants  it  she  can  come  and  ask 
for  it." 

"And  will  you  give  it  to  her?"  asked  Charley, 


DOUBLE  TROUBLE  221 

but  Wiley  only  grunted  and  went  ahead  with  his 
writing. 

It  was  apparent  to  him  what  was  in  the  wind. 
The  Widow  had  written  to  demand  of  his  father 
some  return  for  the  damage  to  her  business;  and 
Honest  John  had  replied,  and  sent  Wiley  a  copy, 
that  he  was  in  no  wise  responsible  for  his  acts. 
This  letter  to  Wiley  had  been  followed  by  another 
in  which  his  father  had  rebuked  him  for  perse- 
cuting Mrs.  Huff,  and  Wiley  had  replied  with  five 
pages,  closely  written,  reciting  his  side  of  the  case. 
At  this  John  Holman  had  declared  himself  neutral 
and,  beyond  repeating  his  offer  to  buy  the  Widow's 
stock,  had  disclaimed  all  interest  in  her  affairs. 
But  now,  with  her  stock  still  in  Blount's  hands  and 
this  last  source  of  revenue  closed  to  her,  the  Widow 
was  left  no  alternative  but  to  appeal  indirectly 
to  Wiley.  What  other  way  then  was  open,  if  she 
was  ever  to  win  back  her  stock,  but  to  get  back 
Virginia's  shares  and  sell  them  to  raise  the  eight  hun- 
dred dollars?  Wiley  grumbled  to  himself  as  Death 
Valley  Charley  turned  away  and  went  on  writing 
his  letter. 

It  had  been  a  surprise,  after  his  break  with 
Virginia,  to  discover  that  it  left  him  almost  glad. 
It  had  removed  a  burden  that  had  weighed  him 
down  for  months,  and  it  left  him  free  to  act.  He 
could  protect  his  property  now  as  it  should  be 
protected,  without  thought  of  her  or  anybody; 
and  he  could  board  his  own  men  and  keep  the 
gospel  of  hate  from  being  constantly  dinned  into 


222  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

their  ears.  They  were  honest,  simple  miners,  easily 
swayed  by  a  woman's  distress,  but  equally  sus- 
ceptible to  the  lure  of  gold;  and  now  with  a  bonus 
after  the  minimum  of  work  they  were  tearing  out 
the  ore  like  Titans.  They  were  loyal  and  satis- 
fied, greeting  his  coming  with  a  friendly  smile; 
but  if  Virginia  got  hold  of  them,  or  her  venomous 
mother,  where  then  would  be  his  discipline? 

He  was  deep  in  his  work  when  a  shadow  fell  upon 
his  desk  and  he  looked  up  to  see — Virginia. 


I 


CHAPTER  XXV 

Virginia  Repents 

CAME  for  my  stock,"  said  Virginia  coolly 
as  she  met  his  questioning  eye  and  Wiley 
turned  and  rummaged  in  a  drawer.  The 
stock  was  hers  and  since  she  came  and  asked  for 
it — he  laid  it  on  the  desk  and  went  ahead  with 
his  work.  Virginia  took  the  envelope  and  examined 
it  carefully,  but  she  did  not  go  away.  She  glanced 
at  him  curiously,  writing  away  so  grimly,  and 
there  was  a  scar  across  his  head.  Could  it  be — 
yes,  there  her  rock  had  struck  him.  The  mark 
was  still  fresh,  but  he  had  given  her  the  stock; 
and  now  he  was  privileged  to  hate  her.  That 
wound  on  his  head  would  soon  be  overgrown  and 
covered,  but  she  had  left  a  deeper  scar  on  his 
heart.  She  had  hurt  his  man's  pride;  and  now  he 
had  hurt  hers,  and  humbled  her  to  ask  for  her 
stock.  He  looked  up  suddenly,  feeling  her  eyes 
upon  him,  and  Virginia  drew  back  and  blushed. 

"Oh — thank  you,"  she  stammered  and  turned 
to  go,  and  yet  she  lingered  to  see  what  he  would  say. 

"You're  welcome,"  he  answered  evenly,  and  took 
a  fresh  sheet  of  paper,  but  she  refused  to  notice 
the  hint.     A  sense  of  pique,  of  wonder  at  his  polite- 

223 


224  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

ness  and  half-resentment  at  his  obliviousness  of 
her  presence,  drew  her  back  and  she  leaned  against 
his  desk. 

"What  are  you  writing?"  she  asked  as  he  glanced 
at  her  inquiringly.     "Is  it  a  letter  to  that  squaw?" 

A  sudden  twitch  of  passion  passed  over  his 
face  at  this  reference  to  a  dark  page  in  their  past 
and  he  drew  the  written  sheet  away. 

"No,"  he  said,  "I  happened  to  remember  a  white 

girl " 

"What?"  burst  out  Virginia  before  she  could 
check  herself  and  he  curled  his  lip  up  scornfully. 

"Yes,"  he  nodded,  "and  she  seems  to  think 
I'm  all  right." 

"Oh,"  she  said  and  turned  away  her  head  with 
a  painful  twisted  smile.  Somehow  she  had  always 
thought — and  yet  he  must  have  met  other  girls — 
he  was  meeting  them  all  the  time!  She  tried  to 
summon  her  anger,  to  carry  her  past  this  fresh 
stab,  but  the  tears  rose  to  her  eyes  instead. 

"I — we'll  be  going  away  soon,"  she  went  on 
hurriedly.  "That  is,  if  he  gives  us  back  our  stock. 
Do  you  think  he'll  do  it,  Wiley?  You  know — 
the  plan  you  spoke  of.  We're  going  to  sell  this 
stock  to  a  broker  and  then  pay  Mr.  Blount  back." 

"I  don't  know,"  mumbled  Wiley,  and  humped 
up  over  his  letter,  but  it  did  not  produce  the  effect 
he  had  hoped  for. 

"Well — I'm  sorry  I  hurt  you,"  she  broke  out 
impulsively,  rebuked  by  the  long  gash  in  his  hair, 
"but    you    shouldn't    have    tried    to    stop    me!     I 


VIRGINIA  REPENTS  225 

wasn't  doing  you  any  harm — I  just  came  up  there 
that  night  to  see  what  was  going  on.  And  I  did 
see  Stiff  Neck  George,  you  can  smile  all  you  want 
to,  and  he  had  something  heavy  in  his  hand." 

She  ran  on  with  her  explanation,  only  to  trail 
off  inconclusively  as  she  saw  his  face  growing  grim. 
He  did  not  believe  her,  he  did  not  even  listen; 
he  just  sat  there  patiently  and  waited. 

"Are  you  waiting  for  me  to  go?"  she  asked, 
smiling  wanly,  but  even  then  he  did  not  respond. 
There  had  been  a  time,  not  many  weeks  ago,  when 
he  would  have  risen  up  and  offered  her  a  chair;  but 
he  had  got  past  that  now  and  seemed  really  and 
sincerely  to  prefer  his  own  company  to  hers.  "I 
thought  you  might  help  us,"  she  went  on  almost 
tearfully,  "to  get  back  our  stock  from  Blount. 
It  was  nice  of  you  to  tell  me,  after  the  way  I  acted; 
but — oh,  I  don't  know  what  it  was  that  came 
over  me!  And  I  never  even  thanked  you  for 
telling  me!" 

A  cynical  smile  came  into  Wiley's  eyes  as  he  sat 
back  and  put  down  his  pen,  but  even  after  that 
she  hurried  on.  "Yes,  I  know  you  don't  like 
me — you  think  I  tried  to  wreck  your  mine  and 
turned  all  your  men  against  you — but  I  do  thank 
you,  all  the  same.  You — you  used  to  care,  Wiley; 
but  anyhow,  I  thank  you  and — I  guess  I'll  be 
going  now." 

She  started  for  the  door  but  he  did  not  try  to 
stop  her.  He  even  picked  up  his  pen,  and  she 
turned  back  with  fire  in  her  eyes. 


226  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"Well,    you    might    say    something,"    she    said 
defiantly,  "or  don't  you  care  what  happens  to  me?" 
No;    I    don't,    Virginia,"   he  answered  quietly, 

so  just  let  it  go  at  that.  We  can't  get  along, 
so  what's  the  use  of  trying?  You  go  your  way  and 
let  me  go  mine." 

"Oh,  I  know!"  she  sighed,  "you  think  I'm  un- 
grateful— and  you  think  I  just  came  for  my  stock. 
But  I  didn't,  altogether;  I  wanted  to  say  I'm 
sorry  and — oh,  Wiley,  do  you  think  he's  alive?' 

"Who?'  he  asked;  but  he  knew  already — she 
was  thinking  about  the  Colonel. 

"Why,  Father,"  she  ran  on.  "I  heard  you 
that  time  when  you  got  old  Charley  drunk.  Do 
you  think  he's  really  alive?  Because  if  he  is!' 
She  raised  her  eyes  ecstatically  and  suddenly  she 
was  smiling  into  his.  "Because  if  he  is,"  she  said, 
"and  I  can  find  him  again — oh,  Wiley;  won't 
you  help  me  find  him?" 

"I'll  think  about  it,"  responded  Wiley,  but  his 
eyes  were  smiling  back  and  the  anger  had  died  in 
his  heart.  After  all,  she  was  human;  she  could 
smile  through  her  tears  and  reach  out  and  touch 
his  rough  hand,  and  he  could  not  bring  himself 
to  hate  her.  "After  I  pay  for  the  mine,"  he  sug- 
gested gently.     "But  now  you'd  better  go." 

"Oh,  no,"  she  protested,  "please  tell  me  about 
it.  Is  he  hiding  in  the  Ube-Hebes?  Oh,  you  don't 
know  how  glad  I  was  when  I  heard  you  talking 
with  Charley — I  never  did  think  he  was  dead. 
He  sent  me  word  once,  not  to  worry  about  him, 


VIRGINIA  REPENTS  227 

but — the  Indians  said  he  had  died.  That  is — well, 
they  said  if  it  hadn't  been  for  that  sandstorm 
they  would  surely  have  found  the  body.  And  he'd 
thrown  away  his  canteen,  so  he  couldn't  have 
had  any  water;  and  there  wasn't  any  more  for 
miles.  He  was  lost,  you  know,  and  out  of  his 
head;  and  heading  right  out  through  the  sand- 
hills. Oh,  it's  awful  to  talk  about  it,  but  of  course 
we  don't  know  for  certain;  and  it  might  have  been 
somebody  else.  Don't  you  think  it  was  some 
other  man?" 

"I  don't  know,"  answered  Wiley,  and  sat  staring 
straight  ahead  as  she  ran  on  with  her  arguments 
and  entreaties.  After  all,  what  did  he  have  to 
base  his  belief  upon,  except  the  babblings  of  brain- 
cracked  Charley?  They  had  found  the  Colonel's 
riding-burro,  and  his  saddle-bags  and  papers,  be- 
sides his  rifle  and  canteen;  and  the  Shoshone 
trailers  had  followed  the  tracks  of  a  man  until 
they  were  lost  in  the  drifting  sand-hills.  And 
yet  Charley's  remarks,  and  his  repeated  attempts 
to  get  across  the  valley  with  some  whiskey;  there 
was  something  there,  certainly,  upon  which  to 
build  hope — and  Virginia  was  very  insistent. 

"Yes,  I  think  it  was  another  man,"  he  said 
at  length.  "Either  that  or  your  father  escaped. 
He  might  have  lost  one  canteen  and  still  have 
had  another,  or  he  might  have  found  his  way  to 
some  water-hole.  But  from  the  way  Charley 
talks,  and  tries  to  cover  up  his  breaks,  I  feel  sure 
that  your  father  is  alive." 


228  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

* 

"Oh,  goodie !'  she  cried  and  before  he  could 
stop  her  she  had  stooped  over  and  kissed  his  bruised 
head.  "Now  you  know  I'm  sorry,"  she  burst  out 
impulsively,  "and  will  you  go  out  and  look  for 
him  at  once?" 

"Pretty  soon,"  said  Wiley,  putting  her  gently 
away.  "After  I  make  my  payment  on  the  mine. 
They'd  be  sure  to  jump  me,  now." 

"Oh,  but  why  not  now?"  she  pleaded.  "They 
wouldn't  jump  your  mine." 

"Yes,  they  would,"  her  eplied.  "They'd  jump  me 
in  a  minute!     I  don't  dare  to  go  off  the  grounds." 

"But  what's  the  mine,'  she  demanded  insist- 
ently, "compared  to  finding  father?" 

"Well,  not  very  much,"  he  conceded  frankly, 
"but  this  is  the  way  I'm  fixed.  I've  got  the  whole 
world  against  me,  including  you  and  your  mother, 
and  I've  got  to  play  out  my  hand.  There's  no- 
body I  can  trust — even  my  father  has  turned 
against  me — and  I've  got  to  fight  this  out  myself." 

"What?  Just  for  the  money?  Do  you  think 
more  of  that  than  you  do  of  finding  my  father?' 

"No,  I  don't,"  he  said,  "but  I  can't  go  now, 
and  so  there's  no  use  talking." 

"No,"  she  answered,  drawing  resentfully  away 
from  him,  "there's  no  use  talking  to  you\  He 
might  be  dying,  or  out  of  food,  but  you  don't  think 
of  anything  but  that  money!" 

"Well,  maybe  so,"  he  retorted  tartly,  "but  if 
you'd  just  left  me  alone,  instead  of  sicking  all 
your  dogs  on  me,  I'd've  been  over  there  looking 


VIRGINIA  REPENTS  229 

for  him,   long   ago.     Of  course   I'm  wrong — that's 
understood  from  the  start;  but — 


erstoou  rrom  tne  scan;  Dur. ' 


What  dogs  did  I  set  on  you?"  she  demanded, 
flaring  up,  and  he  fixed  her  with  sullen  eyes. 

"Never  mind,"  he  said.  "You  know  what  youVe 
done  as  well  or  better  than  I  do.  All  I've  got  to 
say  is  that  my  conscience  is  clear  and  we'd  better 
quit  talking  while  we're  friends." 

"Yes — friends!"  she  repeated,  and  then  she 
stopped  and  at  last  she  heaved  a  sigh.  "Well,  I 
don't  care,"  she  defended.  "You  drove  me  to  it. 
A  woman  must  protect  herself,  somehow." 

"Well,  you  can  do  it,"  he  said,  feeling  tenderly 
of  his  head,  and  Virginia  flew  into  a  rage. 

'I  told  you  I  was  sorry  V9  she  cried,  stamping  her 
foot.     "Isn't  that  enough?     I'm  sorry,  I  said!" 

"Yes,  and  I'm  sorry,"  he  answered,  but  his  eyes 
were  level  and  his  jaw  jutted  out  like  a  crag. 

"Sorry  for  what?"  she  demanded,  and  he  sprang 
his  trap. 

"Sorry  I  can't  go  out  and  hunt  for  your  father." 

"Oh,"  she  said,  and  drooped  her  head. 

"If  we  could  pay  for  what  we've  done  by  just 
being  sorry,"  he  went  on  with  a  ghost  of  a  smile, 
"we  wouldn't  be  where  we  are.  But  you  know 
we  can't,  Virginia.  I'm  sorry  for  some  things 
myself,  and  I  expect  to  pay  for  them,  but  I  can't 
stop  to  do  it  now." 

"But  will  you  go  for  him — sometime?"  she  asked, 
smiling  wistfully.  "Then — oh,  Wiley;  why  can't 
we  be  friends?"     She  held  out  her  hands  and  he 


23o  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

rose  up  and  took  them,  but  with  a  startled  look 
in  his  eyes.  "You  know  that  I'm  sorry,"  she 
said,  "and  I'm  willing  to  pay,  too;  if  there's  any- 
thing that  I  can  do.  Can't  I  help  you,  Wiley? 
Isn't  there  something  I  can  do  to  help  you  pay 
for  your  mine?  And  I'll  never  oppose  you  again 
— if  you'll  only  go  and  find  my  father!" 

She  raised  his  hands  and  put  them  against  her 
cheek  and  the  quick  tears  sprang  to  his  eyes. 

"I'll  do  it,"  he  promised,  "just  the  minute  I 
can  go.  And — I'll  try  to  be  good  to  you,  Vir- 
ginia. Won't  you  give  me  a  kiss,  just  to  show 
it's  all  right?  I'm  sorry  I  treated  you  so  rough. 
But  it'll  be  all  right  now  and  we'll  try  to  be  friends 
again — I  wasn't  writing  to  any  other  girl." 

"Oh,  weren't  you?"  she  smiled.  "Well,  I'll 
kiss  you,  then — just  once.  But  somehow,  I'm 
afraid  it  won't  last." 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

The  Call 

THE  long  quarrel  was  over,  they  had  made 
up — and  kissed — and  yet  to  Wiley  it  all 
seemed  unreal.  That  is,  all  but  the  kiss. 
It  was  that,  perhaps,  which  made  the  rest  seem 
unreal,  for  it  had  changed  the  color  of  his  life. 
Before,  he  had  thought  in  terms  of  hard  fact,  but 
the  kiss  put  a  rainbow  in  the  sky.  It  roused  a 
great  hope,  a  joy,  an  ecstasy,  a  sense  of  well-wishing 
for  mankind;  and  yet  it  was  only  he  who  had 
changed.  The  world  was  the  same;  Samuel  Blount 
was  the  same;  and  the  miners,  and  Stiff  Neck  George. 
They  were  all  there  together  in  a  rough-and-tumble 
light  to  see  who  would  get  the  Paymaster  Mine 
and,  even  with  the  madness  of  her  kiss  in  his  soul, 
he  pressed  on  towards  the  one,  fixed  goal. 

He  had  set  out  to  win  the  Paymaster  and  win 
it  he  would  if  he  had  to  shoot  his  way  to  victory. 
For  Stiff*  Neck  George,  like  a  watchful  coyote, 
had  taken  up  his  post  on  the  hill;  and  from  that 
sign  alone  Wiley  knew  that  Blount  had  changed 
his  tactics  and  appealed  to  the  court  of  last  resort. 
His  attachments  had  failed,  his  injunction  suit 
had  failed,  and  his  cheap  attempt  to  cut  off  Wiley's 

231 


232  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

checks.  The  money  had  come,  promptly  for- 
warded by  the  Express  Company  with  a  note  of 
apology  from  the  buyer,  and  it  lay  now  in  Wiley's 
office  safe.  All  that  was  left  to  do  was  to  send  it 
to  Blount  and  get  back  the  deed  to  the  property. 
Three  days  remained  before  the  bond  and  lease 
expired,  but  that  was  not  a  day  too  much.  The 
question  was — who  to  send?  Wiley  thought  the 
matter  over,  glanced  at  George  up  on  the  hill, 
and  sent  a  note  down  to  Virginia. 

She  came  up  the  trail  smiling,  for  her  proud 
reserve  had  vanished,  and  she  even  allowed  him  a 
kiss;  but  when  he  asked  her  to  take  the  money  to 
Blount  she  drew  back  and  shook  her  head. 

"I'm  afraid,"  she  said,  " — I'm  afraid  something 
might  happen.  Can't  you  send  it  by  somebody 
else?" 

"No,  that's  just  the  point,"  he  answered  gravely. 
"Something  is  likely  to  happen  if  I  do.  My  lawyer 
has  turned  crooked,  and  the  bank  won't  touch  it; 
so  there's  nobody  to  send  but  you.  You  can 
hide  the  money  till  you  get  there,  so  that  no  one 
will  rob  you  on  the  way;  and  if  anybody  asks  you, 
you  can  tell  them  about  that  stock  deal  and  that 
you're  going  down  to  hold  up  Blount." 

"Why  don't  you  go?"  she  objected  and  he 
pointed  out  the  doorway  at  Stiff  Neck  George  on 
the  hill. 

"There  he  sits,"  he  said,  "like  a  red-necked  old 
buzzard,  just  waiting  for  a  chance  to  jump  my 
mine.     He  may  do  it,  anyhow — I  wouldn't  put  it 


THE  CALL  233 

past  him — but  if  he  comes  he'd  better  come 
a-shooting.  You  see,  here's  the  point:  the  man 
that  holds  this  mine  can  turn  out  ten  thousand 
dollars  a  day,  and  that  amount  of  money  would 
hire  enough  lawyers  to  fight  the  outsiders  to  a 
standstill.  If  I  get  jumped  I'm  licked,  because 
I  haven't  got  any  more  money;  and  I'm  going  to 
stay  right  here  and  fight  'em.  But  you  take  this 
money — there's  fifty-two  thousand  dollars — and  go 
down  and  make  that  payment.  If  you  can't  find 
Blount,  then  hunt  up  the  clerk  of  the  Superior 
Court  and  deposit  the  fifty  thousand  with  him. 
Just  bring  me  his  receipt,  with  a  memorandum 
of  the  payment,  and  he'll  notify  Blount  himself." 

"I  don't  like  to,"  she  shuddered.  "I'm  afraid 
they  won't  take  it,  and  then  you'll " 

"They've  got  to  take  it!"  he  broke  in  eagerly. 
"Just  get  the  stage  driver  to  go  along  as  witness, 
and  I'll  give  you  a  full  power  of  attorne}r.  And 
then  listen,  Virginia;  you  take  the  rest  of  this 
money  and  buy  back  your  father's  stock." 

"Oh,  can  I?"  she  cried  and,  reaching  out  for  the 
money,  she  held  it  with  tremulous  hands.  There 
were  fifty  thousand-dollar  bills,  golden  yellow  on 
the  back  and  a  rich,  glossy  black  on  the  front; 
and  others  of  smaller  denominations,  making  fifty- 
two  thousand  in  all.  It  was  a  fortune  in  itself, 
but  in  what  it  was  to  buy  it  was  well  worth  over 
a  million. 

"Aren't  you  afraid  to  trust  me?'  she  asked  at 
last,  and  when  he  smiled  she  hid  it  away.     "All 


234  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

right,"  she  said,  "and  as  soon  as  I've  paid  it  I'll 
call  you  up  on  the  'phone." 

She  went  out  the  next  morning  on  the  early  stage 
and  Wiley  watched  it  rush  across  the  plain.  It 
was  green  as  a  lawn,  that  dry,  treeless  desert  with 
its  millions  of  evenly  spaced  creosote  bushes;  but 
as  the  sun  rose  higher  it  turned  blood-red  like  an 
omen  of  evil  to  come.  Many  times  before,  in  the 
glow  of  evening,  he  had  seen  the  green  change 
to  red;  but  now  it  was  ominous,  with  Stiff  Neck 
George  on  the  hill-top  and  Shadow  Mountain 
frowning  down  behind.  He  paced  about  uneasily 
as  the  day  wore  on  and  at  night  he  listened  for 
the  'phone.  She  was  to  call  him  up,  as  soon  as  she 
had  paid  over  the  money;  but  it  did  not  ring  that 
night. 

The  morning  of  the  last  day  dawned  fair  and 
pleasant,  with  the  fresh  smell  of  dew  in  the  air, 
and  he  awoke  with  a  sense  that  all  was  well.  Vir- 
ginia was  in  Vegas  and,  when  Blount  came  to  his 
office,  she  would  make  the  payment  in  his  stead. 
There  was  no  chance  to  fail,  once  she  had  found 
her  man;  and  if  Blount  refused  to  accept  it,  whxh 
he  could  hardly  do,  she  could  simply  leave  the 
money  with  the  court.  There  were  no  papers  to 
confuse  her,  no  forms  to  go  through;  Blount  had 
made  a  legal  contract  to  sell  the  property  and  she 
had  a  full  power  of  attorney.  All  it  called  for  was 
loyalty  and  faithfulness  to  her  trust,  and  Wiley 
knew  Virginia  too  well  to  think  she  would  fail 
him  now.     She  was  proud  and  hot-headed,  and  she 


THE  CALL  235 

had  fought  him  in  the  past;  but,  once  she  had  given 
her  word,  she  would  keep  her  promise  or  die. 

As  the  sun  rose  higher  he  imagined  her  at  the 
bank  with  the  sheaf  of  bills  hidden  in  her  bosom, 
and  Blount's  surprise  and  palavering  when  he 
found  he  was  caught  and  that  his  deep-laid  plans 
had  failed.  He  had  schemed  to  catch  Wiley  be- 
tween the  horns  of  a  dilemma,  and  either  jump  his 
mine  when  he  went  in  to  make  the  payment  or  force 
him  to  lose  it  by  default.  But,  almost  by  a  miracle, 
Virginia  had  appeared  at  the  very  moment  when 
he  was  seeking  a  messenger;  and  by  an  even  greater 
miracle,  they  had  composed  all  their  difficulties 
just  in  time  for  him  to  send  her  to  town.  It  was 
like  an  act  of  Providence,  an  answer  to  prayer,  if 
people  any  longer  prayed;  and,  more,  even,  than 
the  money  and  the  joy  of  success,  was  the  con- 
sciousness of  Virginia's  love.  She  had  seemed  so 
hostile,  so  distant  and  unattainable;  but  the  mo- 
ment that  he  forgot  her  and  abandoned  all  hope 
she  fluttered  to  his  hand  like  a  dove. 

The  noon  hour  came  and  went  and  as  Wiley 
watched  the  'phone  it  seemed  to  him  strangely 
silent.  To  be  sure,  few  people  called  him,  but — 
he  snatched  the  receiver  from  the  hook.  He  had 
guessed  it — the  'phone  was  dead!  He  rattled  the 
hook  and  listened  impatiently,  then  he  shouted 
and  listened  again,  and  black  fancies  rose  up  in 
his  brain.  What  was  the  meaning  of  this?  Had 
they  cut  the  wire  on  him?  And  why?  It  really 
made  no   difference!    Virginia  was  there;    he  had 


236  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

heard  it  from  the  stage-driver  who  had  driven  her 
in  the  day  before — and  yet,  there  must  be  a  reason. 
Perhaps  it  was  an  accident,  for  the  line  was  old 
and  neglected,  but  why  should  it  happen  now? 
He  hung  up  the  receiver  and  reviewed  it  all  calmly. 
There  were  a  hundred  things  which  might  happen 
to  the  line,  for  it  passed  through  rough  country 
near  Vegas;  but  the  weather  was  fair  and  there 
was  no  wind  blowing  to  topple  over  the  poles. 
No  one  used  the  line  but  him — it  had  been  connected 
up  by  Blount  when  he  had  first  taken  over  the  mine 
— and  yet  the  wire  had  been  cut.  But  by  whom? 
As  he  sat  there  pondering  he  raised  his  eyes  to  the 
hill-top,  and  Stiff"  Neck  George  was  gone! 

"The  dastard!"  cursed  Wiley,  leaping  furiously 
to  his  feet  and  reaching  for  his  rifle,  but  though 
he  scanned  the  line  through  his  high-power  field- 
glasses  there  was  not  a  man  in  sight.  Wiley  ran 
down  to  the  shed  and  got  out  his  racer  that  had 
lain  there  idle  for  months,  but  as  his  motor  began 
to  thunder,  a  head  popped  up  and  he  saw  Stiff" 
Neck  George  on  the  ridge.  He  too  had  a  rifle 
and,  as  he  saw  Wiley  watching  him,  he  dropped  back 
and  hid  from  sight. 

"Oho!"  said  Wiley,  and,  leaving  his  machine, 
he  strode  angrily  back  to  the  mine.  So  that  was 
their  game,  to  get  him  to  leave  and  then  slip  in 
and  jump  his  mine.  Perhaps  it  was  all  arranged 
with  the  men  he  had  working  for  him  and  George 
would  not  even  have  a  fight.  Neither  his  foremen 
nor  the  guards  were  men  he  would  care  to  trust 


THE  CALL  237 

in  a  matter  involving  millions — and  yet  something 
was  wrong  in  Vegas.  There  was  treachery  some- 
where or  they  would  not  cut  the  line  to  keep  him 
from  getting  the  news.  He  lingered  irresolutely, 
his  hands  itching  for  the  steering  wheel,  his  eyes 
searching  for  Stiff  Neck  George. 

There  was  a  feud  between  them — he  had  braved 
George's  killing  gun  and  rushed  in  and  kicked  him 
down  the  dump.  Would  George,  then,  withhold 
his  hand?  But,  down  in  Vegas,  Blount  was  framing 
up  some  game  to  deprive  him  of  title  to  his  mine. 
Wiley  weighed  them  in  the  balance,  the  two  forces 
against  him,  and  decided  to  stay  with  the  mine. 
As  long  as  he  held  it  there  were  lawyers  a-plenty 
to  prove  that  his  title  was  good,  but  if  Stiff  Neck 
George  jumped  it  he  would  have  to  kill  him  to  get 
back  possession  of  the  property.  Or  rather,  he 
would  have  to  fight  him,  for  George  was  a  gun- 
man with  notches  on  the  butt  of  his  six-shooter. 
No,  he  would  have  to  get  killed,  or  give  up  the 
Paymaster,  whether  Blount  was  right  or  wrong. 

He  set  his  teeth  and  settled  down  to  endure  it 
— but  he  knew  that  Virginia  would  not  fail  him. 
He  had  given  her  the  money,  she  knew  what  to  do, 
and  as  sure  as  she  hoped  to  save  her  father,  he 
knew  that  she  would  do  it.  His  part  was  to  hold 
down  the  mine.  The  men  came  and  went,  the 
engine  puffed  and  panted,  and  the  long,  dragging 
hours  went  by.  As  the  darkness  came  on  Wiley 
stalked  in  the  shadows,  looking  out  into  the  night 
for  Stiff  Neck  George;  but  nothing  stirred,  the  work 


238  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

went  on  as  usual,  and  at  midnight  he  gave  up  the 
search.  His  option  had  expired  and  either  the  mine 
was  his  or  the  title  had  reverted  to  the  Company. 
There  was  nothing  to  watch  for  and  so  he  slept, 
but  at  dawn  his  telephone  jangled. 

Wiley  rose  up  breathlessly  and  took  down  the 
receiver  but  no  one  answered  his  call.  The  'phone 
was  dead  and  yet  it  had  rung — or  was  it  only  a 
dream?  He  hung  up  in  disgust  and  went  back 
to  bed  but  something  drew  him  back  to  the  'phone. 
He  held  down  the  hook  and,  with  the  receiver  to 
his  ear,  let  the  lever  rise  slowly  up.  There  was 
talking  going  on  and  men  laughing  in  hoarse  voices 
and  the  tramp  of  feet  to  and  fro,  but  no  one  re- 
sponded to  his  shouts.  He  hung  up  once  more  and 
then  suddenly  it  came  over  him,  a  foreboding  of 
impending  disaster.  Something  was  wrong,  some- 
thing big  that  must  be  stopped  at  once;  and  a 
voice  called  insistently  for  action.  He  leapt  into 
his  clothes  and  started  for  the  door — then  turned 
back  and  strapped  on  his  pistol.  As  the  sun  rose 
up  he  was  a  speck  in  the  desert,  rushing  on  through 
a  blood-red  sea. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

The  Thunder  Clap 

THE  broad  streets  of  Vegas  were  swarming 
with  traffic  as  Wiley  glided  swiftly  into 
town  and  he  noticed  that  people  looked  at 
him  curiously.  Perhaps  it  was  all  imagination  but 
it  seemed  to  him  they  eyed  him  coldly.  Yet  what 
they  thought  or  felt  was  nothing  to  him  then — his 
business  was  with  Samuel  J.  Blount.  The  mine 
was  unprotected — he  had  not  even  told  his  foreman 
that  he  was  leaving,  or  where  he  was  going — and 
there  was  no  time  for  anything  but  business.  If 
there  was  any  trouble  for  him,  Samuel  J.  Blount 
was  at  the  bottom  of  it,  and  he  drove  straight  up 
to  the  bank.  It  was  a  huge,  granite  structure 
with  massive  onyx  pillars  and  smiling  young  clerks 
at  the  grilles;  but  he  hurried  past  them  all  and 
turned  down  a  hall  to  a  room  that  was  marked: 
President — Private.  This  was  no  time  for  dally- 
ing or  sending  in  cards — he  opened  the  door  and 
stepped  in. 

Samuel  Blount  was  sitting  at  the  head  of  a  table 
with  other  men  grouped  about  him,  but  as  Wiley 
Holman  entered  they  were  silent.  He  glanced  at 
Blount  and  then  again  at  the  men — they  were  the 

239 


240  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

directors    of   the    Paymaster    Mining    and    Milling 
Company! 

"Good  morning,  Mr.  Holman,"  spoke  up  Blount 
with  asperity.     "Please  wait  for  me  out  in  the  hall." 

"Since  when?'  retorted  Wiley  and  then,  leaping 
to  the  point,  "what  about  that  deed  to  the  Pay- 
master?" 

"Why — you  must  be  misinformed,"  replied  Blount 
slowly,  at  the  same  time  pressing  a  button,  "this 
is  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors." 

"So  I  see,"  returned  Wiley,  "but  I  sent  the 
money  by  Virginia  to  take  up  the  option  on  the 
mine.     Did  you  receive  it  or  did  you  not?' 

A  broad-shouldered  man,  very  narrow  between 
the  eyes,  came  in  and  stood  close  to  Wiley,  and 
Blount  smiled  and  cleared  his  throat. 
No,"  he  said,  "we  did  not  receive  it?' 
Oh,  you  didn't,  eh?'  said  Wiley,  glancing  up 
at  the  janitor.  "Perhaps  you  will  tell  me  if  it  was 
offered  to  you?" 

"No,  it  was  not  offered  to  us,"  replied  Blount, 
smiling  blandly,  "although  Miss  Huff  did  make  a 
deposit." 

"Of  fifty  thousand  dollars?" 

"No,  it  was  more  than  that — fifty-two,  I  believe. 
It  was  deposited  to  your  account." 

"Oh,"  observed  Wiley,  and  looked  them  over 
again  as  the  directors  turned  around  to  scowl. 
"Well,  perhaps  I  can  see  Miss  Huff?" 

"She  is  not  here  at  present,"  replied  Blount  with 
finality,  "and  so  I  must  ask  you  to  withdraw." 


THE  THUNDER  CLAP  241 

"Just  a  moment,"  said  Wiley,  as  the  janitor 
moved  expectantly.  "I  came  here  on  a  matter  of 
business  with  you  and  this  Board  of  Directors  and, 
since  the  matter  is  urgent,  I  must  request  an  im- 
mediate hearing.  You  don't  need  to  be  alarmed 
— all  I  want  is  my  answer  and  then  I'll  leave  you 
alone.  In  the  first  place,  Mr.  Blount,  will  you 
please  tell  me  the  circumstances  under  which  this 
deposit  was  made?  I  gave  Miss  Huff  instructions 
to  offer  the  money  to  you  in  payment  for  the  Pay- 
master Mine." 

"Oh!  Instructions,  eh?"  piped  Blourit  with  a 
satirical  smile,  and  the  Board  stirred  and  nodded 
significantly.  "Well,  since  you've  just  come  in 
and  are  evidently  unaware  of  the  wide  interest  that 
has  been  taken  in  this  case,  I'll  tell  you  a  few  things, 
Mr.  Holman.  The  people  of  this  town  do  not  ap- 
prove of  the  manner  in  which  you  have  treated 
Mrs.  Huff;  and  as  for  your  ' instructions'  to  Vir- 
ginia, let  me  tell  you  right  now  that  we  have  saved 
her  from  becoming  your  victim." 

"My  victim!'1  repeated  Wiley,  moving  swiftly 
towards  him,  but  the  janitor  caught  him  by  the 
arm. 

"Yes,  your  victim,"  answered  Blount  with  a 
venomous  sneer,  "or,  at  least,  your  intended  victim. 
The  people  of  Vegas  had  nothing  to  say  when  you 
deprived  Virginia  and  her  mother  of  their  liveli- 
hood— it  was  your  privilege  as  lessee  of  the  mine 
to  board  your  own  men  if  you  chose — but  when 
you   had   the   effrontery   to   send   Virginia   to   this 


242  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

Board   with    'instructions'   to  jeopardize   her  own 
interests,  we  felt  called  on  to  interfere." 

"Why,  you're  crazy!"  burst  out  Wiley.  "What 
interests  did  she  jeopardize  by  making  that  payment 
for  me?  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  was  just  the  con- 
trary— I  gave  her  the  money  to  get  back  the  stock 
that  you  had  practically  stolen  from  her  mother !" 

"Now!  Now!':  spoke  up  Blount,  "we  won't 
have  any  personalities,  or  I'll  ask  Mr.  Jepson  to 
remove  you.  You  must  know  if  you  know  any- 
thing that  Virginia  herself  had  over  twelve  thou- 
sand shares  of  stock;  while  her  mother  left  with 
me,  as  collateral  on  a  note,  more  than  two  hundred 
thousand  shares  more.  Yet  you  asked  this  inno- 
cent girl,  who  trusted  you  so  fully,  to  wipe  out  her 
whole  inheritance  at  one  blow.  You  asked  her  to  come 
here  and  make  a  payment  that  would  beat  her  out  of 
half  a  million  dollars — for  fifty  thousand  dollars!1 

He  paused  and  the  men  about  the  table  mur- 
mured threateningly  among  themselves. 

And  now!'1  went  on  Blount  with  heavy  irony, 
you  come  here  and  ask  for  your  deed!" 

"Yes,  you  bet  I  do!"  snapped  back  Wiley,  "and 
I'm  going  to  get  it,  too.  If  Virginia  came  here 
and  offered  you  that  money,  that's  enough,  in  the 
eyes  of  the  law.  It  was  a  legal  payment  under  a 
legal  contract,  entered  into  by  this  Board  of  Di- 
rectors; and  I  call  }^ou  gentlemen  to  witness  that 
she  came  here  and  offered  the  money." 

"She  came  to  me\"  corrected  Blount,  "and  in 
no  wise  as  the  President  of  this  Board!' 


a 
it 


THE  THUNDER  CLAP  243 

"Well,  you're  the  man  that  I  told  her  to  go  to — 
and  if  she  offered  you  the  money,  that's  enough!' 

"Oh,  it's  enough,  is  it?  Well,  it  may  be  enough 
for  you,  but  it  is  not  enough  for  the  citizens  »of 
this  town.  We  have  organized  a  committee,  of 
which  Mr.  Jepson  is  a  member,  to  escort  you  out 
of  Vegas;  and  I  would  say  further  that  your  bond 
and  lease  has  lapsed  and  the  Company  will  take 
over  the  mine." 

*  We'll  discuss  that  later,"  returned  Wiley  grimly, 
"but  I'll  tell  you  right  now  that  there  aren't  men 
enough  in  Vegas  to  run  me  out  of  town — not  if 
you  call  in  the  whole  town  and  the  Janitors'  Union 
— so  don't  try  to  start  anything  rough.  I'm  a 
law-abiding  citizen,  and  I  know  my  rights,  and 
I'm  going  to  see  this  through."  He  put  his  back  to 
the  wall  and  the  burly  Jepson  took  the  hint  to 
move  further  away.  "Now,"  said  Wiley,  "if  we 
understand  each  other  let's  get  right  down  to 
brass  tacks.  It's  all  very  well  to  organize  Vigilance 
Committees  for  the  protection  of  trusting  young 
ladies,  but  you  know  and  I  know  that  this  is  a 
matter  of  business,  involving  the  title  to  a  mine. 
And  I'd  like  to  say  further  that,  when  a  Board  of 
Directors  talks  a  messenger  out  of  her  purpose 
and  persuades  her  to  disregard  her  instructions " 

"Instructions!"  bellowed  Blount. 

"Yes — instructions!"  repeated  Wiley,  " — instruc- 
tions as  my  agent.  I  sent  Miss  HufF  down  here 
to  make  this  payment  and  I  gave  her  instructions 
regarding  it." 


244  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"Do  you  realize,"  blustered  Blount,  "that  if  she 
had  followed  those  instructions  she  would  have 
defrauded  her  own  mother  out  of  millions;  that  she 
would  have  ruined  her  own  life  and  conferred  her 
father's  fortune  upon  the  very  man  who  was  de- 
ceiving her?" 

"No,  I  do  not,"  replied  Wiley,  "but  even  if  I 
did,  that  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  case.  As  to 
my  relations  with  Miss  Huff,  I  am  fully  satisfied 
that  she  has  nothing  of  which  to  complain;  and 
since  it  was  you,  and  the  rest  of  the  gang,  who 
stood  to  lose  by  the  deal,  your  indignation  seems 
rather  far-fetched.  If  you  were  sorry  for  Miss 
Huff  and  wished  to  help  her  you  have  abundant 
private  means  for  doing  so;  but  when  you  dis- 
suade her  from  her  purpose  in  order  to  save  your 
own  skin  you  go  up  against  the  law.  I'm  going  to 
take  this  to  court  and  when  the  evidence  is  heard 
I'm  going  to  prove  you  a  bunch  of  crooks.  I  don't 
believe  for  a  minute  that  Virginia  turned  against 
me.     I  know  that  she  offered  you  the  money." 

"Oh,  you  know,  do  you?'  sneered  Blount  as  his 
Directors  rallied  about  him.  "Well,  how  are  you 
going  to  prove  it?" 

"By  her  own  word!"  said  Wiley.  "I  know  her 
too  well.     You  just  talked  her  out  of  it,  afterward." 

"So  you  think,"  taunted  Blount,  "that  she 
offered  the  money  in  payment,  and  demanded  the 
delivery  of  the  deed?  And  will  you  stand  or  fall 
on  her  testimony?" 

"Absolutely!"  smiled   Wiley,   "and   if  she   tells 


THE  THUNDER  CLAP  245 

me  she  didn't  do  it  I'll  never  take  the  matter  into 
court." 

"Very  well,"  replied  Blount  and  turned  towards 
the  door,  but  the  Directors  rushed  in  and  caught 
him.  They  thrust  their  heads  together  in  a  whis- 
pered, angry  conference,  now  differing  among 
themselves  and  now  flying  back  to  catch  Blount, 
but  in  the  end  he  shook  them  all  off.  "No,  gentle- 
men," he  said,  "I  have  absolute  confidence  in  the 
justice  of  my  case.  If  you  stand  to  lose  a  little 
I  stand  to  lose  a  great  deal — and  I  know  she  never 
asked  for  that  deed!" 

"Well,  bring  her  in,  then,"  they  conceded  reluc- 
tantly, and  turned  venomous  eyes  upon  Wiley.  They 
knew  him,  and  they  feared  him,  and  especially  with 
this  girl;  for  he  was  smiling  and  waiting  confidently. 
But  Blount  was  their  czar,  with  his  great  block  of 
stock  pitted  against  their  tiny  holdings,  and  they 
sat  down  to  await  the  issue. 

She  came  at  last,  ushered  in  through  the  back 
door  by  Blount,  who  smiled  benevolently;  and  her 
eyes  leapt  on  the  instant  to  meet  Wiley's. 

"Here  is  Miss  Huff,"  announced  Blount  delib- 
erately and  the  light  died  in  Wiley's  shining  eyes. 
He  had  waited  for  her  confidently,  but  that  one 
defiant  flash  told  him  that  Virginia  had  turned 
against  him.  She  had  thrown  in  her  lot  with 
Blount,  and  against  her  lover,  and  by  her  word 
he  must  stand  or  fall.  She  had  been  his  agent, 
but  if  she  had  not  carried  out  her  trust 

"Any  questions  you  would  like  to  ask,"  went  on 


246  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

Blount  with  ponderous  calm,  "I  am  sure  Virginia 
will  answer." 

He  turned  reassuringly  and  she  nodded  her  head 
nervously,  then  stepped  out  and  stood  facing  Wiley. 

"It  is  a  question,"  began  Wiley,  speaking  like 
one  in  a  dream,"  of  the  way  you  paid  Mr.  Blount 
that  money.  When  you  took  it  to  him  first,  before 
they  had  talked  to  you,  did  you  tell  him  it  was 
my  payment  on  the  option  ? " 

Virginia  glanced  at  Blount,  then  she  took  a  deep 
breath  and  drew  herself  up  very  straight. 

"No,"  she  said,  "I  spoke  to  him  first  about 
buying  back  father's  stock." 

"But  after  that,"  he  said,  "didn't  you  hand  him 
over  the  money  and  say  it  was  sent  by  me?" 

"No,  I  didn't,"  she  answered.  "After  the  way 
you  had  treated  me  I  didn't  think  it  was  right.'3 

"Not  right!"  he  repeated  with  a  slow,  dazed 
smile.     "Why — why  wasn't  it  right,  Virginia?' 

"Because,"  she  went  on,  "you  were  trying  to 
deceive  me  and  beat  me  and  mother  out  of  our 
rights.  You  knew  all  the  time  that  father's  stock 
was  still  ours — and  that  Mr.  Blount  never  even 
claimed  it!" 

"Never  claimed  it!"  cried  Wiley,  suddenly  roused 
to  resentment.  "Well,  Virginia,  he  most  certainly 
did!  He  offered  to  sell  it  to  me  for  five  cents  a 
share  when  I  took  out  that  option  on  the  Pay- 
master!" 

"Now,  now,  Wiley!'1'  began  Blount,  but  Virginia 
cut  him  short  with  a  scornful  wave  of  the  hand. 


THE  THUNDER  CLAP  247 

"Never  mind,"  she  said."  I'll  attend  to  this 
myself.     I  just  want  to  tell  him  what  I  think!" 

"What  you  think  V9  raved  Wiley,  suddenly  coming 
up  fighting.  "You've  been  fooled  by  a  bunch  of 
crooks.  Never  mind  what  you  think — did  you  give 
him  the  money  and  tell  him  it  came  from  me?" 

"I  did  not!"  answered  Virginia,  her  eyes  flashing 
with  hot  anger,  "and  while  I  may  not  be  able 
to  think,  I  certainly  wasn't  fooled  by  you.  No,  I 
took  your  money  and  put  it  in  the  bank,  and  I 
let  your  option  expire!" 

"My — God!"  moaned  Wiley,  and  groped  for 
the  door,  but  in  the  hall  he  stopped  and  turned 
back.  There  was  some  mistake — she  had  not 
understood.  He  slipped  back  and  looked  in  once 
more.  She  was  shaking  hands  with  Blount — and 
smiling. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 
The  Way  Out 

WHEN  a  woman  treads  the  ways  of  deceit 
she  smiles — like  Mona  Lisa.  But  was 
the  great  Leonardo  deceived  by  the  smile 
of  his  wife  when  she  posed  for  him  so  sweetly? 
No,  he  read  her  thoughts — how  she  was  thinking 
of  another — and  his  master  hand  wove  them  in. 
There  she  smiles  to-day,  smooth  and  pretty  and 
cryptic;  but  Leonardo,  the  man,  worked  with 
heavy  heart  as  he  laid  bare  the  tragedy  of  his 
love.  The  message  was  for  her,  if  she  cared  to  read 
it,  or  for  him,  that  rival  for  her  love;  or,  if  their 
hearts  were  pure  and  free  from  guilt,  then  there 
was  no  message  at  all.  She  was  just  a  pretty 
woman,  soft  and  gentle  and  smiling — as  Virginia 
Huff  had  smiled. 

She  had  not  smiled  often,  Wiley  Holman  remem- 
bered it  now,  as  he  went  flying  across  the  desert, 
and  always  there  was  something  behind;  but 
when  she  had  looked  up  at  Blount  and  taken  his 
fat  hand,  then  he  had  read  her  heart  at  a  glance. 
If  he  had  taken  his  punishment  and  not  turned 
back  he  would  have  been  spared  this  great  ache 
in  his  breast;  but  no,  he  was  not  satisfied,  he  could 

248 


THE  WAY  OUT  249 

not  believe  it,  and  so  he  had  received  a  worse  wound. 
She  had  been  playing  with  him  ail  the  time  and, 
when  the  supreme  moment  arrived,  she  had  landed 
him  like  a  trout;  and  then,  when  she  had  left  him 
belly-up  from  his  disaster,  she  had  turned  to  Blount 
and  smiled.  There  was  no  restraint  now;  she  smiled 
to  the  teeth;  and  Blount  and  the  Directors  smiled. 

Wiley  cursed  to  himself  as  he  bored  into  the 
wind  and  burned  up  the  road  to  Keno.  The  mine 
was  nothing;  he  could  find  him  another  one,  but 
Virginia  had  played  him  false.  He  did  not  mind 
losing  her — he  could  find  a  better  woman — but  how 
could  he  save  his  lost  pride?  He  had  played  his 
hand  to  win  and,  when  it  came  to  the  showdown, 
she  had  slipped  in  the  joker  and  cleaned  him. 
The  Widow  would  laugh  when  she  heard  the  news, 
but  she  would  not',  laugh  at  him.  The  road  lay 
before  him  and  his  gas  tanks  were  full.  He  would 
gather  up  his  belongings  and  drift.  He  stepped 
on  the  throttle  and  went  roaring  through  the 
town,  but  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill  he  stopped. 
The  mine  was  shut  down,  not  a  soul  was  in  sight, 
and  yet  he  had  left  but  a  few  hours  before. 

He  toiled  wearily  up  the  trail,  where  he  had 
caught  Virginia  running  and  held  her  fighting  in 
his  arms,  and  the  world  turned  black  at  the  thought. 
What  madness  had  this  been  that  had  kept  him 
from  suspecting  her  when  she  had  opposed  his  every 
move  from  the  start.  Had  she  not  wrecked  his 
engine  and  ruined  his  mill?  Then  why  had  he 
trusted  her  with  his  money?    And  that  last  inno- 


250  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

cent  visit,  when  she  had  asked  for  her  stock,  and 
thanked  him  so  demurely  at  the  end!  She  would 
not  be  dismissed,  all  his  rough  words  were  wasted, 
until  in  the  end  she  had  leaned  over  and  kissed 
him.  A  Judas-kiss?  Yes,  if  ever  there  was  one; 
or  the  kiss  of  Judith  of  Bethulia.  But  Judith 
had  sold  her  kisses  to  save  her  people — Virginia 
had  sold  hers  for  gold. 

Yes,  she  had  sold  him  out  for  money;  after 
rebuking  him  from  the  beginning  she  had  stabbed 
him  to  the  heart  for  a  price.  It  was  always  he, 
Wiley,  who  thought  of  nothing  but  money;  who 
was  the  liar,  the  miser,  the  thief.  Everything  that 
he  did,  no  matter  how  unselfish,  was  imputed 
to  his  love  of  money;  and  yet  it  had  remained 
for  Virginia,  the  censorious  and  virtuous,  to  vio- 
late her  trust  for  gain.  It  was  not  for  revenge 
that  she  had  withheld  the  payment  and  snatched 
a  million  dollars  from  his  hand;  she  had  told  him 
herself  that  it  was  because  Blount  had  returned 
their  stock  and  she  would  not  throw  it  away.  How 
quick  Blount  had  been  to  see  that  way  out  and 
to  bribe  her  by  returning  the  stock — how  damnably 
quick  to  read  her  envious  heart  and  know  that 
she  would  fall  for  the  offer.  Well,  now  let  them 
keep  it  and  smile  their  smug  smiles  and'  laugh 
at  Honest  Wiley;  for  if  there  ever  was  a  curse  on 
stolen  money  then  Virginia's  would  buy  her  no 
happiness. 

He  raised  his  bloodshot  eyes  to  look  for  the  last 
time  at  the  Paymaster,  which  he  had  fought  for 


• 


THE  WAY  OUT  251 

and  lost.  What  had  they  done  to  save  it,  to  bring 
it  to  what  it  was,  to  merit  it  for  their  own?  For 
years  it  had  lain  idle,  and  when  he  had  opened 
it  up  they  had  fought  him  at  every  step.  They 
had  shot  him  down  with  buckshot,  and  beaten 
him  down  with  rocks  and  threatened  his  life  with 
Stiff  Neck  George.  His  eyes  cleared  suddenly 
and  he  looked  about  the  dump — he  had  forgotten 
his  feud  with  George.  Yet  if  his  men  were  gone, 
who  then  had  driven  them  out  but  that  crooked- 
necked,  fighting  fool?  And  if  George  had  driven 
them  out,  then  where  was  he  now  with  his  ancient, 
filed-down  six-shooter?  Wiley  drew  his  gun  for- 
ward and  walked  softly  towards  the  house,  but  as 
he(  passed  a  metal  ore-car  a  pistol  was  thrust  into 
his  face.     He  started  back,  and  there  was  George. 

"Put  'em  up!"  he  snarled,  rising  swiftly  from 
behind  the  car,  and  the  hot  fury  left  Wiley's  brain. 
His  anger  turned  cold  and  he  looked  down  the  barrel 
at  the  grinning,  spiteful  eyes  behind. 

"You  go  to  hell!"  he  growled,  and  George  jabbed 
the  gun  into  his  stomach. 

"Put  'em  up!"  he  ordered,  but  some  devil  of 
resistance  seized  Wiley  as  his  hands  went  up.  It 
was  close,  too  close,  and  George  had  the  drop  on 
him,  but  one  hand  struck  out  and  the  other  clutched 
the  gun  while  he  twisted  his  lithe  body  aside. 
At  the  roar  of  the  shot  he  went  for  his  own  gun, 
leaping  back  and  stooping  low.  Another  bullet 
clipped  his  shirt  and  then  his  own  gun  spat  back, 
shooting  blindly  through  the  smoke.     He  emptied 


252  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

it,  dodging  swiftly  and  crouching  close  to  the 
ground,  and  then  he  sprang  behind  the  car.  There 
was  a  silence,  but  as  he  listened  he  heard  a  gurgling 
noise,  like  the  water  flowing  out  of  a  canteen, 
and  a  sudden,  sodden  thump.  He  looked  out, 
and  George  was  down.  His  blood  was  gushing 
fast  but  the  narrow,  snaky  eyes  sought  him  out 
before  they  were  filmed  by  death.  It  was  over, 
like  a  rush  of  wind. 

Wiley  flicked  out  his  cylinder  and  filled  it  with 
fresh  cartridges,  then  looked  around  for  the  rest. 
He  was  calm  now,  and  calculating  and  infinitely 
brave;  but  no  one  stepped  forth  to  face  his  gun. 
A  boy,  down  in  town,  started  running  towards 
the  mine,  only  to  turn  back  at  some  imperative 
command.  The  whole  valley  was  lifeless,  yet  the 
people  were  there,  and  soon  they  would  venture 
forth.  And  then  they  would  come  up,  and  look 
at  the  body,  and  ask  him  to  give  up  his  gun;  and 
if  he  did  they  would  take  him  to  Vegas  and  shut 
him  up  in  jail,  where  the  populace  could  come 
and  stare  at  him.  Blount  and  Jepson  would 
come,  and  the  Board  of  Directors;  and,  in  order 
to  put  him  away,  they  would  tell  how  he  had 
threatened  George.  They  would  make  it  appear 
that  he  had  come  to  jump  the  mine,  and  that 
George  was  defending  the  property;  and  then, 
with  the  jury  nicely  packed,  they  would  send 
him  to  the  penitentiary,  where  he  wouldn't  inter- 
fere with  their  plans. 

In   a   moment   of  clairvoyance   he  saw  Virginia 


THE  WAY  OUT  253 

before  him,  looking  in  through  the  prison  bars 
and  smiling,  and  suddenly  he  put  up  his  gun. 
She  had  started  this  job  and  made  him  a  murderer 
but  he  would  rob  her  of  that  last  chance  to  smile. 
There  was  a  road  that  he  knew  that  had  been 
traveled  before  by  men  who  were  hard-pressed  and 
desperate.  It  turned  west  across  the  desert  and 
mounted  by  Daylight  Springs  to  dip  down  the 
long  slope  to  the  Sink;  and  across  the  Valley  of 
Death,  if  he  could  once  pass  over  it,  there  was  no 
one  he  need  fear  to  meet.  No  one,  that  is,  except 
stray  men  like  himself,  who  had  fled  from  the 
officers  of  the  law.  Great  mountain  ranges,  so 
they  said,  stretched  unpeopled  and  silent,  beneath 
the  glare  of  the  desert  sun;  and  though  Death 
might  linger  near  it  was  under  the  blue  sky  and 
away  from  the  cold  malice  of  men. 

From  his  safe  in  the  office  Wiley  took  out  a  roll 
of  bills,  all  that  was  left  of  his  vanished  wealth; 
and  he  took  down  his  rifle  and  belt;  and  then, 
walking  softly  past  the  body  of  Stiff  Neck  George, 
he  cranked  up  his  machine  and  started  off.  Every 
doorway  in  town  was  crowded  with  heads,  craning 
out  to  see  him  pass,  and  as  he  turned  down  the 
main  street  he  saw  Death  Valley  Charley  rushing 
out  with  a  flask  in  his  hand. 

"We  seen  ye!"  he  grinned  as  Wiley  slowed  down, 
and  dropped  the  flask  of  whiskey  on  the  seat. 

"You  killed  him  fair!"  he  shouted  after  him, 
but  Wiley  had  opened  up  the  throttle  and  the 
answer  to  his  praise  was  a  roar. 


254  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

The  sun  was  at  high  noon  when  Wiley  topped 
the  divide  and  glided  down  the  canyon  towards 
Death  Valley.  He  could  sense  it  in  the  distance 
by  the  veil  of  gray  haze  that  hung  like  a  pall  across 
his  way.  Beyond  it  were  high  mountains,  a  solid 
wall  of  blue  that  seemed  to  rise  from  the  depths 
and  float,  detached,  against  the  sky;  and  up  the 
winding  wash  which  led  slowly  down  and  down, 
there  came  pulsing  waves  of  heat.  The  canyon 
opened  out  into  a  broad,  rocky  sand-flat,  shut  in 
on  both  sides  by  knife-edged  ridges  dotted  evenly 
with  brittle  white  bushes;  and  each  jagged  rock 
and  out-thrust  point  was  burned  black  by  the 
suns  of  centuries. 

He  passed  an  ancient  tractor,  abandoned  by  the 
wayside,  and  a  deserted,  double-roofed  house;  and 
then,  just  below  it  where  a  ravine  came  down,  he 
saw  a  sign-board,  pointing.  Up  the  gulch  was 
another  sign,  still  pointing  on  and  up,  and  stamped 
through  the  metal  of  the  disk  was  the  single  word: 
Water.  It  was  Hole-in-the-Rock  Springs  that  old 
Charley  had  spoken  about  and,  somewhere  up  the 
canyon,  there  was  a  hole  in  the  limestone  cap,  and 
beneath  it  a  tank  of  sweet  water.  On  many  a 
scorching  day  some  prospector,  half  dead  from 
thirst,  had  toiled  up  that  well-worn  trail;  but  now 
the  way  was  empty,  the  freighter's  house  given 
over  to  rats,  and  the  road  led  on  and  on. 

A  jagged,  saw-tooth  range  rose  up  to  block 
his  way  and  the  sand-flat  narrowed  down  to  a 
deep    wash;     and,    then,    still    thundering    on,    he 


THE  WAY  OUT  255 

struggled  out  through  its  throat  and  the  Valley 
seemed  to  rise  up  and  smite  him.  He  stopped 
his  throbbing  motor  and  sat  appalled  at  its  im- 
mensity. Funereal  mountains,  black  and  banded 
and  water-channeled,  rose  up  in  solid  walls  on 
both  sides  and,  down  through  the  middle  as  far 
as  the  eye  could  see,  there  stretched  a  white  ribbon, 
set  in  green.  It  swung  back  and  forth  across  a 
wide,  level  expanse,  narrow  and  gleaming  with 
water  at  the  north  and  blending  in  the  south  with 
gray  sands.  The  writhing  white  band  was  Death 
Valley  Sink,  where  the  waters  from  countless  desert 
ranges  drained  down  and  were  sucked  up  by  the 
sun.  Far  from  the  north  it  came,  when  the  season 
was  right  and  the  cloudbursts  swept  the  Grape- 
vines and  the  White  mountains;  the  Panamints 
to  the  west  gave  down  water  from  winter  snows 
that  gathered  on  Telescope  Peak;  and  every  ravine 
of  the  somber  Funeral  Range  was  gutted  by  the 
rush  of  forgotten  waters. 

The  Valley  was  dry,  bone-dry  and  desiccated, 
and  yet  every  hill,  every  gulch  and  wash  and  can- 
yon, showed  the  action  of  torrential  waters.  The 
chocolate-brown  flanks  of  the  towering  mountain 
walls  were  creased,  and  ripped  out  and  worn; 
and  from  the  mouth  of  every  canyon  a  great  spit 
of  sand  and  boulders  had  been  spewed  out  and 
washed  down  towards  the  Sink.  On  the  surface 
of  this  wash,  rising  up  through  thousands  of  feet, 
the  tips  of  buried  mountains  peeped  out  like  tiny 
hill-tops,  yet    black,   and    sharp    and    grim.     The 


256  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

great  ranges  themselves,  sweeping  up  from  the 
profundity  till  they  seemed  to  cut  off  the  world, 
looked  like  molded  cakes  of  chocolate  which  had 
been  rained  on  and  half  melted  down.  They  were 
washed-down,  melted,  stripped  of  earth  and  vege- 
tation; and  down  from  their  flanks  in  a  steep, 
even  slope,  lay  the  debris  and  scourings  of  centuries. 

The  westering  sun  caught  the  glint  of  water 
in  the  poisonous,  salt-marshes  of  the  Sink;  but, 
far  to  the  south,  the  great  ultimate  Sink  of  Sinks 
was  a-gleam  with  borax  and  salt.  It  was  there 
where  the  white  band  widened  out  to  a  lake-bed, 
that  men  came  in  winter  to  do  their  assessment 
work  and  scrape  up  the  cotton-ball  borax.  But  if 
any  were  there  now  they  would  know  him  for  a 
fugitive  and  he  took  the  road  to  the  west.  It  ran 
over  boulders,  ground  smooth  by  rolling  floods  and 
burned  deep  brown  by  the  sun,  and  as  he  twisted  and 
turned,  throwing  his  weight  against  the  wheels, 
Wiley  felt  the  growing  heat.  His  shirt  clung  to 
his  back,  the  sweat  ran  down  his  face  and  into  his 
stinging  eyes  and  as  he  stopped  for  a  drink  he 
noticed  that  the  water  no  longer  quenched  his 
thirst.  It  was  warm  and  flat  and  after  each  fresh 
drink  the  perspiration  burst  from  every  pore,  as 
if  his  very  skin  cried  out  for  moisture.  Yet  his 
canteen  was  getting  light  and,  until  he  could  find 
water,  he  put  it  resolutely  ?way. 

The  road  swung  down  at  last  into  a  broad,  flat 
dry-wash,  where  the  gravel  lay  packed  hard  as 
iron,  and  as  his  racer  took  hold  and  began  to  leap 


THE  WAY  OUT  257 

and  frolic,  he  tore  down  the  valley  like  the  wind. 
The  sun  was  sinking  low  and  the  unknown  lay 
before  him,  a  land  he  had  never  seen;  yet  before 
the  night  came  on  he  must  map  out  his  course  and 
stake  his  life  on  the  venture.  Other  automobiles 
might  follow  and  snatch  him  back  if  he  delayed 
but  an  hour  in  his  flight;  but,  once  across  Death 
Valley  and  lost  in  those  far  mountains,  he  would 
leave  the  law  behind.  The  men  he  met  would  be 
fugitives  like  himself,  or  prospectors,  or  wandering 
Shoshones;  and,  live  or  die,  he  would  be  away 
from  it  all — where  he  would  never  see  Virginia 
again. 

The  deep  wash  pinched  in,  as  the  other  had  done, 
before  it  gave  out  into  the  plain;  and,  then,  as 
he  whirled  around  a  point,  he  glided  out  into  the 
open.  The  foothills  lay  behind  him  and,  straight 
athwart  his  way,  stretched  a  sea  of  motionless 
sand-waves.  As  far  north  as  he  could  see,  the 
ocean  of  sand  tossed  and  tumbled,  the  crests  of 
its  rollers  crowned  with  brush  and  grotesque  drift- 
wood, the  gnarled  trunks  and  roots  of  mesquite 
trees.  To  the  east  and  west  the  high  mountains 
still  rose  up,  black  and  barren,  shutting  in  the 
sea  of  sand;  but  across  the  valley  a  pass  led  smoothly 
up  to  a  gap  through  the  wall  of  the  Panamints.  It 
was  Emigrant  Wash,  up  which  the  hardy  Mormons 
had  toiled  in  their  western  pilgrimage,  leaving  at 
Lost  Wagons  and  Salt  Creek  the  bones  of  whole 
caravans  as  a  tribute  to  the  power  of  the  desert. 

A  smooth,  steep  slope  led  swiftly  down  to  the 


258  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

edge  of  the  Valley  of  Death  and  as  Wiley  looked 
across  he  saw  as  in  a  vision  a  massive  gateway 
of  stone.  It  was  flung  boldly  out  from  the  base  of 
a  blue  mountain,  enclosing  a  dark  valley  behind; 
and  from  between  its  lofty  walls  a  white  river  of 
sand  spread  out  like  a  flower  down  the  slope. 
It  was  the  gateway  to  the  Ube-Hebes,  just  as 
Charley  had  described  it,  and  it  was  only  a  few 
miles  away.  It  lay  just  across  the  sand-flat,  where 
the  great,  even  waves  seemed  marching  in  a  phalanx 
towards  the  south;  and  then  up  a  little  slope,  all 
painted  blue  and  purple,  to  the  mysterious  valley 
beyond.  The  sun,  swinging  low,  touched  the  sum- 
mits of  distant  sand-hills  with  a  gleam  of  golden 
light  and  all  the  dark  shadows  moved  toward 
him.  A  breath  of  air  fanned  his  cheek,  and  as 
he  drank  deep  from  his  canteen  he  nodded  to  the 
Gateway  and  smiled. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
Across  Death  Valley 

THE  way  to  the  Ube-Hebes  lay  across  a  low 
flat,  glistening  white  with  crystals  of  alkali; 
and  as  his  car  trundled  on  Wiley  came  to 
a  strip  of  sand,  piled  up  in  the  lee  of  a  prostrate 
salt  bush.  Other  bushes  appeared,  and  more  sand 
about  them,  and  then  a  broad,  smooth  wave.  It 
mounted  up  from  the  north,  gently  scalloped  by 
the  wind,  and  on  the  south  side  it  broke  off  like 
a  wall.  He  drove  along  below  it,  glancing  up  as 
it  grew  higher,  until  at  last  it  cut  off  his  view.  All 
the  north  was  gone,  and  the  Gateway  to  his  hiding- 
place;  but  the  south  and  west  were  there.  To 
the  south  lay  mud  flats,  powdery  dry  but  packed 
hard;  and  the  west  was  a  wilderness  of  sand. 

A  giant  mesquite  tree,  piled  high  with  clinging 
drifts,  rose  up  before  the  crest  of  his  wave,  and 
as  he  plowed  in  between  them  the  edge  of  the 
crest  poured  down  in  a  whispering  cascade.  Then 
more  trees  loomed  up,  and  hundreds  of  white  bushes 
each  mounted  on  its  pedestal  of  sand;  and  at  the 
base  of  each  salt-bush  there  were  kangaroo-rat 
holes  and  the  tracery  of  their  tails  in  the  dust. 
Men  called  it  Death  Valley,  but  for  such  as  these 

259 


26o  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

it  was  a  place  of  fullness  and  joy.  They  had  capered 
about,  striking  the  ground  with  their  tails  at  the 
end  of  each  playful  jump,  and  the  dry,  brittle 
salt-bushes  had  been  feast  enough  to  them,  who 
never  knew  the  taste  of  grass  or  water. 

The  sand-wave  rose  higher,  leaving  a  damp 
hollow  behind  it  where  ice-plants  grew  green  and 
rank;  and  as  he  crept  along  the  thunder  of  his 
exhaust  started  tons  of  sliding  silt.  His  wheels 
raced  and  burrowed  as  he  struck  a  soft  spot,  and 
then  abruptly  they  sank.  He  dug  them  out  care- 
fully and  backed  away,  but  a  mound  of  drifted 
sand  barred  his  way.  Twist  and  turn  as  he  would 
he  could  not  get  around  it  and  at  last  he  climbed 
to  its  summit.  The  sun  was  setting  in  purple  and 
fire  behind  the  black  shoulder  of  the  Panamints 
and  like  a  path  of  gold  it  marked  out  the  way, 
the  only  way  to  cross  the  Valley.  At  the  south 
was  the  Sink  with  its  treacherous  bog-holes  and 
further  north  the  sandhills  were  limitless — the  only 
way,  where  the  wagon-wheels  had  crossed,  was 
buried  deep  in  the  sand.  Three  great  mountains 
of  sand,  like  huge  breakers  of  the  sea,  had  swept 
in  and  covered  the  wheel-tracks;  and  far  to  the 
west  in  the  path  of  the  sun  their  summits  loomed 
two  hundred  feet  high. 

He  went  back  to  his  car  and  drove  it  desperately 
at  the  slope,  only  to  bury  the  rear  wheels  to  the 
axles;  and  as  he  dug  them  out  the  sand  from  the 
wave  crest  began  to  whisper  and  slip  and  slide. 
He  cleared  a  great  space  and  started  his  motor,  but 


ACROSS  DEATH  VALLEY     261 

at  the  first  shuddering  tug  the  sand  began  to  tremble 
and  in  a  rush  the  wave  was  upon  him.  It  buried 
him  deep  and  as  he  leapt  from  his  machine  little 
rills  of  singing  sand  flowed  around  it.  So  far  it 
had  carried  him,  this  high-powered,  steel-springed 
racer;  but  now  he  must  leave  it  for  the  sand  to 
cover  over  and  cross  the  great  Valley  alone.  On 
many  a  rocky  slope  and  sliding  sandhill  it  had 
clutched  and  plunged  and  fought  its  way,  but  now 
it  was  smothered  in  the  treacherous,  silt-fine  sand 
and  he  must  leave  it,  like  a  partner,  to  die.  Yet 
if  die  it  must,  then  in  its  desert  burial  the  last  trace 
of  Wiley  Holman  would  be  lost.  The  first  wind 
that  blew  would  wipe  out  his  foot-prints  and  the 
racer  would  sink  beneath  the  waves.  Wiley  took 
his  canteen,  and  Charley's  bottle  of  whiskey,  his 
rifle  and  a  small  sack  of  food  and  dared  the  great 
silence  alone. 

While  his  motor  had  done  the  work  he  had  not 
minded  the  heat  and  the  pressure  of  blood  in  his 
head,  but  as  he  toiled  up  the  sandy  slope,  sinking 
deeper  at  each  stride,  he  felt  the  breath  of  the 
sand.  All  day  it  had  lain  there  drinking  in  the 
sun's  rays  and  now  in  the  evening,  when  the  upper 
air  was  cool,  it  radiated  a  sweltering  heat.  Wiley 
mounted  to  the  summit  of  wave  after  wave,  fighting 
his  way  towards  the  Gateway  to  the  north;  and 
then,  beaten  at  last  and  choking  with  the  exertion, 
he  turned  and  followed  a  crest.  The  sand  piled  up 
before  him  in  a  vortex  of  sharp-edged  ridges,  reaching 
their  apex  in  a  huge  pyramid  to  the  west,  and  as 


262  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

he  toiled  on  past  its  flank  he  felt  a  gusty  rush  of 
air,  sucking  down  through  Emigrant  Wash.  It 
was  the  wind,  after  all,  that  was  king  of  Death 
Valley;  for  whichever  way  it  blew  it  swept  the 
sand  before  it,  raising  up  pyramids  and  tearing 
them  down.  Along  the  crest  of  the  high  wave 
a  feather-edge  of  sand  leapt  out  like  a  plume  into 
space  and  as  he  stopped  to  watch  it  Wiley  could 
see  that  the  mountain  was  moving  by  so  much  across 
the  plain. 

A  luminous  half-moon  floated  high  in  the  heavens 
and  the  sky  was  studded  thick  with  pin-point  stars. 
In  that  myriad  of  little  stars,  filling  in  between  the 
big  ones,  the  milky  way  was  lost  and  reduced  to 
obscurity — the  whole  sky  was  a  milky  way.  Wiley 
sank  down  in  the  sand  and  gazed  up  sombrely  as 
he  wetted  his  parching  lips  from  his  canteen,  and 
the  evening  star  gleamed  like  a  torch,  looking  down 
on  the  world  he  had  fled.  Across  the  Funeral 
Range,  not  a  day's  journey  to  the  east,  that  same 
star  lighted  Virginia  on  her  way  while  he,  a  fugitive, 
was  flung  like  an  atom  into  the  depths  of  this 
sea  of  sand.  It  was  deeper  than  the  sea,  scooped 
out  far  below  the  level  of  the  cool  breakers  that 
broke  along  the  shore;  deep  and  dead,  except  for 
the  wind  that  moved  the  drifting  sand  across  the 
plains.  And  even  as  he  lay  there,  looking  up  at 
the  stars  and  wondering  at  the  riddle  of  the  uni- 
verse, the  busy  wind  was  bringing  grains  of  sand 
and  burying  him,  each  minute  by  so  much. 

He   rose   up   in   a   panic   and   hurried   along  the 


ACROSS   DEATH  VALLEY  263 

slope,  where  the  sand  of  the  wave  was  packed 
hardest,  and  he  did  not  pause  till  he  had  passed 
the  last  drift  and  set  his  foot  on  the  hard,  gravelly 
slope.  The  wind  was  cooler  now,  for  the  night 
was  well  along  and  the  bare  ground  had  radiated 
its  heat;  but  it  was  dry,  powder  dry,  and  every 
pore  of  his  skin  seemed  to  gasp  and  cry  out  for 
water.  There  was  water,  even  yet,  in  the  bottom 
of  his  canteen;  but  he  dared  not  drink  it  till  the 
Gateway  was  in  sight,  and  the  sand-wash  that  led 
to  the  valley  beyond. 

An  hour  passed  by  as  he  toiled  up  the  slope,  now 
breaking  into  a  run  from  impatience,  now  settling 
down  doggedly  to  walk;  and  at  last,  clear  and 
distinct,  he  saw  the  Gateway  in  the  moonlight, 
and  stopped  to  take  his  drink.  It  was  cool  now, 
the  water,  and  infinitely  sweet;  yet  he  knew  that 
the  moment  he  drained  the  last  drop  he  would  feel 
the  clutch  of  fear.  It  is  an  unreasoning  thing,  that 
fear  of  the  desert  which  comes  when  the  last  drop 
is  gone;  and  yet  it  is  real  and  known  to  every 
wanderer,  and  guarded  against  by  the  bravest. 
He  screwed  the  cap  on  his  canteen  and  hurried  up 
the  slope,  which  grew  steeper  and  rockier  with 
each  mile,  but  the  phantom  gateway  seemed  to  lead 
on  before  him  and  recede  into  the  black  abyss  of 
night.  It  was  there,  right  before  him,  but  instead 
of  getting  nearer,  the  Gateway  loomed  higher  and 
higher;  and  daylight  was  near  before  he  passed 
through  its  portals  and  entered  the  dark  valley 
beyond. 


264  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

A  gaunt  row  of  cottonwoods  rose  up  suddenly 
before  him,  their  leaves  whispering  and  clacking 
in  the  wind,  and  at  this  brave  promise  all  fear  for 
water  left  him  and  he  drained  his  canteen  to  the 
bottom.  Then  he  strode  on  up  the  canyon,  that 
was  deep  and  dark  as  a  pocket,  following  the  trail 
that  should  lead  him  to  the  spring;  but  as  one 
mile  and  two  dragged  along  with  no  water,  he  stopped 
and  hid  his  rifle  among  the  rocks.  A  little  later 
he  hid  his  belt  with  its  heavy  row  of  cartridges, 
and  the  sack  of  dry,  useless  food.  What  he  needed 
was  water  and  when  he  had  drunk  his  fill  he  could 
come  back  and  collect  all  his  possessions.  Two 
miles,  five  miles,  he  toiled  up  the  creek  bed  with 
the  cottonwoods  rustling  overhead;  but  though 
their  roots  were  in  the  water,  the  sand  was  still 
dry  and  his  tongue  was  swelling  with  thirst. 

He  stumbled  against  a  stone  and  fell  weakly  to 
the  ground,  only  to  leap  to  his  feet  again,  frightened. 
Already  it  was  coming,  the  stupifying  lassitude, 
the  reckless  indifference  to  his  fate,  and  yet  he 
was  hardly  tired.  The  Valley  had  not  been  hot, 
any  more  than  usual,  and  he  had  walked  twice  as 
far  before;  but  now,  with  water  just  around  the 
corner,  he  was  lying  down  in  the  sand,  He  was 
sleepy,  that  was  it,  but  he  must  get  to  water  first 
or  his  pores  would  close  up  and  he  would  die.  He 
stripped  off  his  pistol  and  threw  it  in  the  sand,  and 
his  hat,  and  the  bottle  of  fiery  whiskey;  and  then, 
head  down,  he  plunged  blindly  forward,  rushing  on 
up  the  trail  to  find  water. 


ACROSS  DEATH  VALLEY     265 

The  sun  rose  higher  and  poured  down  into  the 
narrow  valley  with  its  fringe  of  deceptive  green; 
but  though  the  trees  became  bigger  and  bushier 
in  their  tops  the  water  did  not  come  to  the  surface. 
It  was  underneath  the  sand,  flowing  along  the 
bed-rock,  and  all  that  was  needed  was  a  solid 
reef  of  country-rock  to  bring  it  up  to  the  surface. 
It  would  flow  over  the  dyke  in  a  beautiful  water- 
fall, leaping  and  gurgling  and  going  to  waste; 
and  after  he  had  drunk  he  would  lie  down  and 
wallow  and  give  his  whole  body  a  drink.  He 
would  soak  there  for  hours,  sucking  it  up  with  his 
parched  lips  that  were  cracked  now  and  bleeding 
from  the  drought;  and  then — he  woke  up  suddenly, 
to  find  himself  digging  in  the  sand.  He  was  going 
mad  then,  so  soon  after  he  was  lost,  and  with  water 
just  up  the  stream.  The  creek  was  dry,  where  he 
had  found  himself  digging,  but  up  above  it  would  be 
full  of  water.  He  hurried  on  again  and,  around  the 
next  turn,  sure  enough,  he  found  a  basin  of  water.  | 

It  was  hollowed  from  the  rock,  a  round  pool, 
undimpled,  and  upon  its  surface  a  pair  of  wasps 
floated  about  with  airy  grace.  Their  legs  were 
outstretched  and  on  the  bottom  of  the  hole  he 
could  see  the  round  shadows  of  their  tracks.  It 
was  a  new  kind  of  water,  with  a  skin  that  would 
bend  down  and  hold  up  the  body  of  a  wasp,  and 
yet  it  seemed  to  be  wet.  He  thrust  in  a  finger  and 
the  wasps  flew  away — and  then  he  dropped  down 
and  drank  deep.  When  he  woke  from  his  mad- 
ness the  pool  was  half  empty  and  the  water  was 


266  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

running  down  his  face.  He  was  wet  all  over  and 
his  lips  were  bleeding  afresh,  as  if  his  very  blood 
had  been  dry;  but  his  body  was  weak  and  sick, 
and  as  he  rose  to  his  feet  he  tottered  and  fell  down 
in  the  sand.  When  he  roused  up  again  the  pool 
was  filled  with  water  and  the  wasps  were  back, 
floating  on  its  surface. 

When  he  looked  around  he  was  in  a  little  cove, 
shut  in  by  towering  walls;  and,  close  against  the 
cliff  where  the  rock  had  been  hollowed  out,  he  saw 
an  abandoned  camp.  There  were  ashes  between 
the  stones,  and  tin  cans  set  on  boxes,  and  a  walled- 
in  storage  place  behind,  and  as  he  looked  again  he 
saw  a  man's  tracks,  leading  down  a  narrow  path 
to  the  water.  They  turned  off  up  the  creek — 
high-heeled  boots  soled  with  rawhide  and  bound 
about  with  thongs — and  Wiley  rushed  recklessly  at 
the  camp.  When  he  had  eaten  last  he  could  hardly 
remember,  (it  was  a  day  or  two  back  at  the  best), 
and  as  he  peered  into  cans  and  found  them  empty 
he  gave  vent  to  a  savage  curse.  He  was  weak, 
he  was  starving,  and  he  had  thrown  away  his  food — 
and  this  man  had  hidden  what  he  had.  He  kicked 
over  the  boxes  and  plunged  into  the  store-room, 
throwing  beans  and  flour  sacks  right  and  left,  and 
then  in  the  corner  behind  a  huge  pile  of  pinon  nuts 
he  found  a  single  can  of  tomatoes. 

Whoever  had  treasured  it  had  kept  it  too  long, 
for  Wiley's  knife  was  already  out  and  as  he  cut 
out  the  top  he  tipped  it  slowly  up  and  drained 
it  to  the  bottom. 


ACROSS  DEATH  VALLEY  267 

"Hey,  there !"  hailed  a  voice  and  Wiley  started 
and  laid  down  the  can.  Was  it  possible  the  officers 
had  followed  him?  "Throw  up  your  hands!"  yelled 
the  voice  in  a  fury.  "Throw  'em  up,  or  I'll  kill  you, 
you  scoundrel !" 

Wiley  held  up  his  hands,  but  he  raised  them 
reluctantly  and  the  fighting  look  crept  back  into 
his  eyes. 

"Well!"  he  challenged,  "they're  up — what  about 
it?" 

A  tall  man  with  a  pistol  stepped  out  from  behind 
a  tree  and  advanced  with  his  gun  raised  and  cocked. 
His  hair  was  hermit-long,  his  white  beard  trembled, 
and  his  voice  cracked  and  shrilled  with  helpless 
rage. 

"What  about  it ! "  he  repeated.  " Well,  by  Jupiter, 
if  you  sass  me,  I'll  shoot  you  for  a  camp-robbing 
hound!" 

"Well,  go  ahead  then,"  burst  out  Wiley  defiantly, 
"if  that's  the  way  you  feel — all  I  took  was  one 
can  of  tomatoes!" 

"Yes!  One  can!  Wasn't  that  all  I  had?  And 
you  robbed  me  before,  you  rascal!" 

"I  did  not!"  retorted  Wiley,  and  as  the  old 
man  looked  him  over  he  hesitated  and  lowered  his 
gun. 

"Say,  who  are  you,  anyway?'  he  asked  at  last 
and  glanced  swiftly  at  Wiley's  tracks  in  the  sand. 
"Well — that's  all  right,"  he  ran  on  hastily,  "I  see 
you  aren't  the  man.  There  was  a  renegade  came 
through   here  on  the  twentieth  of  last   July  and 


268  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

stole  everything  I  had.  I  trailed  him,  dad-burn 
him,  clear  to  the  edge  of  Death  Valley — he  was 
riding  my  favorite  burro — and  if  it  hadn't  been  for 
a  sandstorm  that  came  up  and  stopped  me,  I'd 
have  bored  him  through  and  through.  He  stole 
my  rifle  and  even  my  letters,  and  valuable  papers 
besides;  but  he  went  to  his  reward,  or  I  miss  my 
guess,  so  we'll  leave  him  to  the  mercy  of  hell.  As 
for  my  tomatoes,  you're  welcome,  my  friend;  it's 
long  since  I've  had  a  guest." 

He  held  out  his  hand  and  advanced,  smiling 
kindly,  but  Wiley  stepped  back — it  was  Colonel 
Huff. 


CHAPTER  XXX 
An  Evening  with  Socrates 

HOW  the  Colonel  had  come  to  be  reported 
dead  it  was  easy  enough  now  to  sur- 
mise. Some  desperate  fugitive,  or  ram- 
bling hobo  miner  seeking  a  cross-cut  to  the  Borax 
Mines  below,  had  raided  his  camp  in  his  absence; 
and,  riding  off  on  his  burro,  had  met  his  death  in 
a  sand-storm.  His  were  the  tracks  that  the  Indians 
had  followed  and  somewhere  in  Death  Valley  he 
lay  beneath  the  sand  dunes  in  place  of  a  better 
man.  But  the  Colonel — did  he  know  that  his 
family  had  mourned  him  as  dead,  and  bandied 
his  stock  back  and  forth?  Did  he  know  that  the 
Paymaster  had  been  bonded  and  opened  up,  and 
lost  again  to  Blount?  And  what  would  be  his 
answer  if  he  knew  the  man  before  him  was  the 
son  of  Honest  John  Holman?  Wiley  closed  down 
his  lips,  then  he  took  the  outstretched  hand  and 
looked  the  Colonel  straight  in  the  eye. 

"I'm  sorry,  sir,"  he  said,  "that  I  can't  give  you 
my  name  or  tell  you  where  I'm  from;  but  I've  got 
a  bottle  of  whiskey  that  will  more  than  make  up 
for  the  loss  of  that  can  of  tomatoes !" 

269 


270  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"Whiskey!"  shrilled  the  Colonel  and  then  he 
smiled  benignly  and  laid  a  fatherly  hand  upon  his 
shoulder.  "Never  mind,  my  young  friend,  what 
you  have  done  or  not  done;  because  I'm  sure  it 
was  nothing  dishonorable — and  now  if  you  will 
produce  your  bottle  we'll  drink  to  our  better  ac- 
quaintance. " 

"I  threw  it  away,"  answered  Wiley  apologetically, 
"but  it  can't  be  very  far  down  the  trail.  I  was 
short  of  water  and  lost,  you  might  say,  and — 
well,  I  guess  I  was  a  little  wild." 

"And  well  you  might  be,"  replied  the  Colonel 
heartily,  "if  you  crossed  Death  Valley  afoot;  and 
worn  out  and  hungry,  to  boot.  I'll  just  take  the 
liberty  of  going  after  that  bottle  myself,  before 
some  skulking  Shoo-shonnie  gets  hold  of  it." 

"Do  so,"  smiled  Wiley,  "and  when  you've  had 
your  drink,  perhaps  you'll  bring  in  my  rifle  and  the 
rest. 

"Whatever  you've  dropped,"  returned  the  Colonel 
cordially,  "if  it's  only  a  cartridge  from  your  belt! 
And  while  I  am  gone,  just  make  yourself  at  home. 
You  seem  to  be  in  need  of  rest." 

"Yes,  I  am,"  agreed  Wiley,  and  before  the 
Colonel  was  out  of  sight  he  was  fast  asleep  on  his 
bed. 

It  was  dark  when  he  awoke  and  the  light  of  a 
fire  played  and  flickered  on  the  walls  of  his  cave. 
The  wind  brought  to  his  nostrils  the  odor  of  cooking 
beans  and  as  he  rose  and  looked  out  he  saw  the 
Colonel  pacing  up  and  down  by  the  fire.     His  hat 


AN  EVENING  WITH  SOCRATES      271 

was  off,  his  fine  head  thrown  back  and  he  was 
humming  to  himself  and  smiling. 

"Come  out,  sir;  come  out!"  he  cried  upon  the 
moment.  "I  trust  you  have  enjoyed  your  day's 
rest.  And  now  give  me  your  hand,  sir;  I  regret 
beyond  words  my  boorish  conduct  of  this  morn- 
ing. 

He  shook  hands  effusively,  still  continuing  his 
apologies  for  having  taken  Wiley  for  less  than  a 
gentleman;  and  while  they  ate  together  it  be- 
came apparent  to  Wiley  that  the  Colonel  had 
had  his  drink.  If  there  was  anything  left  of  the 
pint  bottle  of  whiskey  no  mention  was  made  of  the 
fact;  but  even  at  that  the  liquor  was  well  spent, 
for  it  had  gained  him  a  friend  for  life. 

"Young  man,"  observed  the  Colonel,  after  look- 
ing at  him  closely,  "I  am  a  fugitive  in  a  way,  myself, 
but  I  cannot  believe,  from  the  look  on  your  face, 
that  your  are  anything  else  than  honest.  I  shall 
respect  your  silence,  as  you  respect  mine,  for  your 
past  is  nothing  to  me;  but  if  at  any  time  I  can 
assist  you,  just  mention  the  fact  and  the  deed  is  as 
good  as  done.  I  am  a  man  of  my  word  and,  since 
true  friends  are  rare,   I    beg  of  you  not  to  forget 


me. 


I'll  remember  that,"  said  Wiley,  and  went  on 
with  his  eating  as  the  Colonel  paced  up  and  down. 
He  was  a  noble-looking  man  of  the  Southern  type, 
tall  and  slender,  with  flashing  blue  eyes;  and  the 
look  that  he  gave  him  reminded  Wiley  of  Virginia, 
only  infinitely   more   kind   and   friendly.     He  had 


. 


272  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

been,  in  his  day,  a  prince  of  entertainers,  of  the 
rich  and  poor  alike;  and  the  kick  of  the  whiskey 
had  roused  up  those  genial  qualities  which  had 
made  him  the  first  citizen  of  Keno.  He  laughed 
and  told  stories  and  cracked  merry  jests,  yet  never 
for  a  moment  did  he  forget  his  incognito  nor  attempt 
to  violate  Wiley's.  They  were  gentlemen  there 
together  in  the  heart  of  the  desert,  and  as  such  each 
was  safe  from  intrusion.  The  rifle  and  cartridge 
belt,  Wiley's  pistol  and  the  sack  of  food,  were 
fetched  and  placed  in  his  hands;  and  then  at  the 
end  the  Colonel  produced  the  flask  of  whiskey 
which  had  been  slightly  diluted  with  water. 

"Now,"  he  said,  "we  will  drink  a  toast,  my  far- 
faring-knight  of  the  desert.  Shall  it  be  that  first 
toast:     'The  Ladies — God  bless  them! '  or ,: 

"No!"  answered  Wiley,  and  the  Colonel  silently 
laughed. 

"Well  said,  my  young  friend,"  he  replied,  nodding 
wisely.  "Even  at  your  age  you  have  learned  some- 
thing of  life.  No,  let  it  be  the  toast  that  Socrates 
drank,  and  that  rare  company  who  sat  at  the 
Banquet.  To  Love!  they  drank;  but  not  to  love 
of  woman.  To  love  of  mankind — of  Man!  To 
Friendship!  In  short,  here's  to  you,  my  friend,  and 
may  you  never  regret  this  night!" 

They  drank  it  in  silence,  and  as  Wiley  sat  thinking, 
the  Colonel  became  reminiscent. 

"Ah,  there  was  a  company,"  he  said,  smiling 
mellowly,  "such  as  the  world  will  never  see  again. 
Agatho  and  Socrates,  Aristophanes  and  Alcibiades, 


AN  EVENING  WITH  SOCRATES      273 

the  picked  men  of  ancient  Athens;  lying  comfortably 
on  their  couches  with  the  food  before  them  and 
inviting  their  souls  with  wine.  They  began  in  the 
evening  and  in  the  morning  it  was  Socrates  who  had 
them  all  under  the  table.  And  yet,  of  all  men,  he 
was  the  most  abstemious — he  could  drink  or  let  it 
alone.  Alcibiades,  the  drunkard,  gave  witness  that 
night  to  the  courage  and  hardihood  of  Socrates — how 
he  had  carried  him  and  his  armor  from  the  battle- 
field of  Potidaea,  and  outfaced  the  enemy  at  Delium; 
how  he  marched  barefoot  through  the  ice  while 
the  others,  well  shod,  froze;  and  endured  famine 
without  complaining;  yet  again,  in  the  feasts  at 
the  military  table,  he  was  the  only  person  that 
appeared  to  enjoy  them.  There  was  a  man,  my 
friend,  such  as  the  world  has  never  seen,  the  greatest 
philosopher  of  all  time;  but  do  you  know  what 
philosophy  he  taught?" 

"No,  I  don't/'  admitted  Wiley,  and  the  Colonel 
sighed  as  he  poured  out  a  small  libation. 

"And  yet,"  he  said,  "you  are  a  man  of  parts, 
with  an  education,  very  likely,  of  the  best.  But 
our  schools  and  Universities  now  teach  a  man 
everything  except  the  meaning  and  purpose  of 
life.  When  I  was  in  school  we  read  our  Plato 
and  Xenophon  as  you  now  read  your  German  and 
French;  but  what  we  learned,  above  the  language 
itself,  was  the  thought  of  that  ancient  time.  You 
learn  to  earn  money  and  to  fight  your  way  through 
life,  but  Socrates  taught  that  friendship  is  above 
everything  and  that  Truth  is  the  Ultimate  Good. 


274  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

But,  ah  well;  I  weary  you,  for  each  age  lives  unto 
itself,  and  who  cares  for  the  thoughts  of  an  old 
man: 

"No!  Go  on!"  protested  Wiley,  but  the 
Colonel  sighed  wearily  and  shook  his  head  gloomily 
in  thought. 

"I  had  a  friend  once,"  he  said  at  last,  "who  had 
the  same  rugged  honesty  of  Socrates.  He  was  a 
man  of  few  words  but  I  truly  believe  that  he  never 
told  a  lie.  And  yet,"  went  on  the  Colonel  with  a 
rueful  smile,  "they  tell  me  that  my  friend  recanted 
and  deceived  me  at  the  last!" 

"Who  told  you?'  put  in  Wiley,  suddenly  rousing 
from  his  silence  and  the  Colonel  glanced  at  him 
sharply. 

"Ah,  yes;  well  said,  my  friend!  Who  told  me? 
Why,  all  of  them — except  my  friend  himself.  I 
could  not  go  to  him  with  so  much  as  a  suggestion 
that  he  had  betrayed  the  friendship  of  a  lifetime; 
and  he,  no  doubt,  felt  equally  reluctant  to  explain 
what  had  never  been  charged.  Yet  I  dared  not 
approach  him,  for  it  was  better  to  endure  doubt 
than  to  suffer  the  certainty  of  his  guilt.  And  so 
we  drifted  apart,  and  he  moved  away;  and  I  have 
never  seen  my  good  friend  since." 

Wiley  sat  in  stunned  silence,  but  his  heart  leapt 
up  at  this  word  of  vindication  for  Honest  John. 
To  be  sure  his  father  had  refused  him  help,  and 
rebuked  him  for  heckling  the  Widow,  but  loyalty 
ran  strong  in  the  Holman  blood  and  he  looked  up 
at  the  Colonel  and  smiled. 


AN  EVENING  WITH  SOCRATES      275 

"Next  time  you  go  inside,"  he  said  at  last,  "take 
a  chance  and  ask  your  friend." 

"I'll  do  that,"  agreed  the  Colonel,  "but  it  won't 
be  for  some  time  because — well,  I'm  hiding  out." 

"Here,  too,"  returned  Wiley,  "and  I'm  never 
going  back.  But  say,  listen;  I'll  tell  you  one  now. 
You  trusted  your  friend,  and  the  bunch  told  you 
that  he'd  betrayed  you;  I  trusted  my  girl,  and  she 
told  me  to  my  face  that  she'd  sold  me  out  for  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  Fifty  thousand,  at  the  most; 
and  I  lost  about  a  million  and  killed  a  man  over 
it,  to  boot.  You  take  a  chance  with  your  friends, 
but  when  you  trust  a  woman — you  don't  take  any 
chance  at  all." 

"Ah,  in  self  defense?'  inquired  the  Colonel 
politely.  "I  thought  I  noticed  a  hole  in  your 
shirt.  Yes,  pretty  close  work — between  your  arm 
and  your  ribs.     I've  had  a  few  close  calls,  myself." 

"Yes,  but  what  do  you  think,'  demanded  Wiley 
impatiently,  "of  a  girl  that  will  throw  you  down 
like  that?  I  gave  her  the  stock  and  to  make  it 
worth  the  money  she  turned  around  and  ditched 
me.  And  then  she  looked  me  in  the  face  and 
laughed!" 

"If  you  had  studied,"  observed  the  Colonel, 
"the  Republic  of  Plato  you  would  have  been  saved 
your  initial  mistake;  for  it  was  an  axiom  among  the 
Greeks  that  in  all  things  women  are  inferior,  and 
never  to  be  trusted  in  large  affairs.  The  great 
Plato  pointed  out,  and  it  has  never  been  contro- 
verted, that  women  are  given  to  concealment  and 


276  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

spite;  and  that  in  times  of  danger  they  are  timid 
and  cowardly,  and  should  therefore  have  no  voice  in 
council.  In  fact,  in  the  ideal  State  which  he  con- 
ceived, they  were  to  be  herded  by  themselves  in 
a  community  dwelling  and  held  in  common  by 
the  state.  There  were  to  be  no  wives  and  no 
husbands,  with  their  quarrels  and  petty  bickerings, 
but  the  women  were  to  be  parceled  out  by  certain 
controllers  of  marriage  and  required  to  breed  men 
for  the  state.  That  is  going  rather  far,  and  I  hardly 
subscribe  to  it,  but  I  think  they  should  be  kept 
in  their  place.*' 

"Well,  they  are  cowardly,  all  right,"  agreed  Wiley 
bitterly,  "but  that's  better  than  when  they  fight. 
Because  then,  if  you  oppose  them,  everybody  turns 
against  you;  and  if  you  don't,  they've  got  you 
whipped!" 

"Put  it  there!"  exclaimed  the  Colonel,  striking 
hands  w7ith  him  dramatically.  "I  swear,  we  shall 
get  along  famously.  There  is  nothing  I  admire 
more  than  a  gentle,  modest  woman,  an  ornament 
to  her  husband  and  her  home;  but  when  she  puts 
on  the  trousers  and  presumes  to  question  and 
dictate,  what  is  there  left  for  a  gentleman  to  do? 
He  cannot  strike  her,  for  she  is  his  wife  and  he  has 
sworn  to  cherish  and  protect  her;  and  yet,  by  the 
gods,  she  can  make  his  life  more  miserable  than  a 
dozen  quarrelsome  men.  What  is  there  to  do  but 
what  I  have  done — to  close  up  my  affairs  and  depart? 
If  there  is  such  a  thing  as  love,  long  absence  may 
renew  it,  and  the  sorrow  may  chasten  her  heart; 


AN  EVENING  WITH  SOCRATES      277 

but  I  agree  with  Solomon  that  it  is  better  to  dwell 
in  a  corner  of  the  house-top  than  with  a  scolding 
woman  in  a  wide  house." 

"You  bet,"  nodded  Wiley.  "Gimme  the  desert 
solitude,  every  time.  Is  there  any  more  whiskey 
in  that  bottle?" 

"And  yet — "  mused  the  Colonel,  " — well,  here's  to 
our  mothers!  And  may  we  ever  be  dutiful  sons! 
After  all,  my  friend,  no  man  can  escape  his  duty; 
and  if  duty  should  call  us  to  endure  a  certain  mar- 
tyrdom we  have  the  example  of  Socrates  to  sustain 
us.  If  report  is  true  he  had  a  scolding  wife — the 
name  of  Xanthippe  has  become  a  proverb — and 
yet  what  more  noble  than  Socrates'  rebuke  to  his 
son  when  he  behaved  undutifully  towards  his  mother? 
Where  else  in  all  literature  will  you  find  a  more 
exalted  statement  of  the  duty  we  all  owe  our  parents 
than  in  Socrates'  dialogue  with  Lamprocles,  his 
son,  as  recorded  in  the  Memorabilia  of  Xenophon? 
And  if,  living  with  Xanthippe  and  listening  to  her 
railings,  he  could  yet  attain  to  such  heights  of 
philosophy  is  it  not  possible  that  men  like  you  and 
me  might  come,  through  his  philosophy,  to  endure 
it?  It  is  that  which  I  am  pondering  while  I  am 
alone  here  in, the  desert;  but  my  spirit  is  weak  and 
that  accursed  camp  robber  made  off  with  my  volume 
of  Plato." 

"Well,  personally,"  stated  Wiley,  his  mind  on  the 
Widow,  "I  think  I  agree  more  with  Plato.  Let  'em 
keep  in  their  place  and  not  crush  into  business 
with  their  talk  and  their  double-barreled  shotguns." 


278 


SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 


"I  beg  your  pardon,  sir,"  said  the  Colonel,  draw- 
ing himself  up  gravely,  "but  did  you  happen  to 
come  through  Keno?" 

"Never  mind;"  grumbled  Wiley,  "you  might 
be  the  Sheriff.  Tell  me  more  about  this  married 
man,  Socrates." 


CHAPTER  XXXI 
The  Broken  Trust 

TO  seek  always  for  Truth  and  Justice  and  the 
common  good  of  mankind  has  seldom  had 
its  earthly  reward  but,  twenty-three  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  years  after  he  drank  the  cup  of 
hemlock,  the  soul  of  Socrates  received  its  oration. 
Not  that  the  Colonel  was  hipped  upon  the  subject 
of  the  ancients,  for  he  talked  mining  and  showed 
some  copper  claims  as  well;  but  a  similar  tragedy 
in  his  own  domestic  life  had  evoked  a  profound 
admiration  for  Socrates.  And  if  Wiley  understood 
what  lay  behind  his  words  he  gave  no  hint  to  the 
Colonel.  Always,  morning,  noon  and  night,  he 
listened  respectfully,  his  lips  curling  briefly  at  some 
thought;  and  at  the  end  of  a  week  the  Colonel 
was  as  devoted  to  him  as  he  had  been  formerly  to 
his  father. 

Yet  when,  as  sometimes  happened,  the  Colonel 
tried  to  draw  him  out,  he  shook  his  head  stubbornly 
and  was  dumb.  The  problem  that  he  had  could 
not  be  solved  by  talk;  it  called  for  years  to  recover 
and  forget;  and  if  the  Colonel  once  knew  that 
his  own  daughter  was  involved  he  might  rise  up 
and  demand  a  retraction.     In  his  first  rush  of  bit- 

279 


28o  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

terness  Wiley  had  stated  without  reservation  that 
Virginia  had  sold  him  out  for  money,  and  the 
pride  of  the  Huffs  would  scarcely  allow  this  to 
pass  unnoticed — and  yet  he  would  not  retract  it 
if  he  died  for  it.  He  knew  from  her  own  lips  that 
Virginia  had  betrayed  him,  and  it  could  never  be 
explained  away. 

If  she  argued  that  she  was  misled  by  Blount  and 
his  associates,  he  had  warned  her  before  she  left; 
and  if  she  had  thought  that  he  was  doing  her  an 
injustice,  that  was  not  the  way  to  correct  it.  She 
had  accepted  a  trust  and  she  had  broken  that  trust 
to  gain  a  personal  profit — and  that  was  the  unpar- 
donable sin.  He  could  have  excused  her  if  she  had 
weakened  or  made  some  mistake,  but  she  had  be- 
trayed him  deliberately  and  willfully;  and  as  he 
sat  off  by  himself,  mulling  it  over  in  his  mind,  his 
eyes  became  stern  and  hard.  For  the  killing  of 
Stiff  Neck  George  he  had  no  regrets,  and  the 
treachery  of  Blount  did  not  surprise  him;  but  he 
had  given  this  woman  his  heart  to  keep  and  she 
had  sold  him  for  fifty  thousand  dollars.  All  the 
rest  became  as  nothing  but  this  wound  refused  to 
heal,  for  he  had  lost  his  faith  in  womankind.  Had 
he  loved  her  less,  or  trusted  her  less,  it  would  not 
have  rankled  so  deep;  but  she  had  been  his  one 
woman,  whose  goings  and  comings  he  watched  for, 
and  all  the  time  she  was  playing  him  false. 

He  sat  silent  one  morning  in  the  cool  shade  of  a 
wild  grapevine,  jerking  the  meat  of  a  mountain  sheep 
that  he  had  killed;  and  as  he  worked  mechanically, 


THE  BROKEN  TRUST  281 

shredding  the  flesh  into  long  strips,  he  watched  the 
lower  trail.  Ten  days  had  gone  by  since  he  had 
fled  across  the  Valley,  but  the  danger  of  pursuit  had 
not  passed  and,  as  he  saw  a  great  owl  that  was 
nesting  down  below  rise  up  blindly  and  flop  away 
he  paused  and  reached  for  his  gun. 

"Never  mind,"  said  the  Colonel  who  had  noticed 
the  movement.  "I  expect  an  old  Indian  in  with 
grub.  But  step  into  the  cave  and  if  it's  who  you 
think  it  is  you  can  count  on  me  till  the  hair  slips." 

Wiley  stepped  in  quietly,  strapping  on  his  belt 
and  pistol,  and  then  the  Colonel  burst  into  a  roar. 

"It's  Charley,"  he  cried,  leaping  nimbly  to  his 
feet  and  putting  up  his  gun.  "Come  on,  boy — 
here's  where  we  get  that  drink!" 

Wiley  looked  out  doubtfully  as  Heine  rushed  up 
and  sniffed  at  the  pans  of  meat,  and  then  he  ducked 
back  and  hid.  Around  the  shoulder  of  the  cliff 
came  Death  Valley  Charley;  but  behind  him,  on 
a  burro,  was  Virginia.  He  looked  out  again  as  the 
Colonel  swore  an  oath  and  then  she  leapt  off  and 
ran  towards  them. 

"Oh — Father V9  she  cried  and  hung  about  his 
neck  while  the  astonished  Colonel  kissed  her  doubt- 
fully. 

"Well,  well!"  he  protested  as  she  fell  to  weeping, 
"what's  the  cause  of  all  this  distress?  Is  your 
mother  not  well,  or " 

"We — we  thought  you  were  deadY  she  burst 
out  indignantly,  "and  Charley  there  knew — all 
the  time!" 


282  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

She  let  go  of  her  father  and  turned  upon  Death 
Valley  Charley,  who  was  solicitously  attending  to 
Heine,  and  the  Colonel  spoke  up  peremptorily. 

"Here,  Charley !';  he  commanded,  "let  that 
gluttonous  cur  wait.  What's  this  I  hear  from 
Virginia?  Didn't  you  tell  her  I  was  perfectly 
well?" 

"Why — why  yes,  sir;  I  did,  sir,"  replied  Charley, 
apologetically,  "but — she  only  thought  I  was  crazy. 
I  told  her,  all  the  time " 

"Oh,  Charley!'  reproached  Virginia,  "didn't 
you  know  better  than  that?  You  only  said  it 
when  you  had  those  spells.  Why  didn't  you  tell 
me  when  you  were  feeling  all  right — and  you  denied 
it,  I  know,  repeatedly!" 

"The  Colonel  would  kill  me,"  mumbled  Charley 
sullenly.  "He  told  me  not  to  tell.  But  I  brought 
you  the  whiskey,  sir;     a  whole  big " 

"Never  mind  the  whiskey,"  said  the  Colonel 
sharply.  "Now,  let's  get  to  the  bottom  of  this 
matter.  Why  should  you  think  I  was  dead  when 
I  had  merely  absented  myself " 

"But  the  body!"  clamored  Virginia.  "We  got 
word  you  were  lost  when  your  burro  came  in  at 
the  Borax  works.  And  when  we  hired  trackers, 
the  Indians  said  you  were  lost — and  your  body  was 
out  in  the  sandhills!" 

"It  was  that  cursed  camp-robber!'  declared  the 
Colonel  with  conviction.  "Well,  I'm  glad  he's  gone 
to  his  reward.  It  was  only  some  rascal  that  came 
through  here  and  stole  my  riding  burro — did  they 


THE  BROKEN  TRUST  283 

care  for  old  Jack  at  the  Works?  Well,  I  shall 
thank  them  for  it  kindly;  and  anything  I  can 
do — but  what's  the  matter,  Virginia  ?" 

She  had  drawn  away  from  him  and  was  gazing 
about  anxiously  and  Charley  had  slunk  guiltily 
away. 

"Why — where's  Wiley?'  she  cried,  clutching 
her  father  by  the  arm.  "Oh,  isn't  he  here,  after 
all?" 

"Wiley?"  repeated  the  Colonel.  "Why,  who  are 
you  talking  about?  I  never  even  heard  of  such  a 
man." 

"Oh,  he's  dead  then;  he's  lost!'  she  sobbed, 
sinking  down  on  the  ground   in   despair.     "Oh,   I 

knew  it,  all  the  time!     But  that  old  Charley " 

She  cast  a  hateful  glance  at  him  and  the  Colonel 
beckoned  sternly. 

"What  now?'  he  demanded  as  Charley  sidled 
near.     "Who  is  this  Mr.  Wiley ? " 

"Why — er — Wiley;  Wiley  Holman,  you  know. 
I   followed   his  tracks   to   the  Gateway.     Ain't   he 

around  here  somewhere?     I  found  this  bottle " 

He  held  up  the  flask  that  he  had  given  to  Wiley, 
and  the  Colonel  started  back  with  a  cry. 

"What,  a  tall  young  fellow  with  leather  puttees?" 

"Oh,  yes,  yes!':  answered  Virginia,  suddenly 
springing  to  her  feet  again.  "We  followed  him — 
isn't  he  here?" 

The  Colonel  turned  slowly  and  glanced  at  the 
cave,  where  Wiley  was  still  hiding  close,  and  then 
he  cleared  his  throat. 


284  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"Well,  kindly  explain  first  why  you  should  be 
following  this  gentleman,  and " 

"Oh,  he's  here,  then!"  sighed  Virginia  and  fell 
into  her  father's  arms,  at  which  Charley  scuttled 
rapidly  away. 

"Mr.  Holman,"  spoke  up  the  Colonel,  as  Wiley 
did  not  stir,  "may  I  ask  you  to  come  out  here 
and  explain?" 

There  was  a  rustle  inside  the  cave  and  at  last 
Wiley  came  out,  stuffing  a  strip  of  dried  meat  into 
his  hip  pocket. 

"I'll  come  out,  yes,"  he  said,  "but,  as  I'm  about 
to  go,  I'll  leave  it  to  your  daughter  to  explain." 

He  picked  up  his  canteen  and  started  down  to 
the  water-hole,  but  the  Colonel  called  him  sternly 
back. 

"My  friend,"  he  said,  "it  is  the  custom  among 
gentlemen  to  answer  a  courteous  question.  I  must 
ask  you  then  what  there  is  between  you  and  my 
daughter,  and  why  she  should  follow  you  across 
Death  Valley?" 

"There  is  nothing  between  us,"  answered  Wiley 
categorically,  "and  I  don't  know  why  she  followed 
me — that  is,  if  she  really  did." 

"Well,  I  did!"  sobbed  Virginia,  burying  her  face 
on  her  father's  breast,  "but  I  wish  I  hadn't  now!' 

"Huh!"  grunted  Wiley  and  stumped  off  down 
the  trail  where  he  filled  his  canteen  at  the  pool. 
He  was  mad,  mad  all  over,  and  yet  he  experienced 
a  strange  thrill  at  the  thought  of  Virginia  following 
him.     He  had  left  her  smiling  and  shaking  hands 


THE  BROKEN  TRUST  285 

with  Blount,  but  a  curse  had  been  on  the  money, 
and  her  conscience  had  forced  her  to  follow  him. 
It  had  been  easy,  for  her,  with  a  burro  to  ride 
on  and  Death  Valley  Charley  to  guide  her;  but 
with  him  it  had  been  different.  He  had  fled  from 
arrest  and  it  was  only  by  accident  that  he  had 
won  to  the  water-hole  in  time.  But  yet,  she  had 
followed  him;  and  now  she  would  apologize  and 
explain,  as  she  had  explained  it  all  once  before. 
Well,  since  she  had  come — and  since  the  Colonel 
was  watching  him — he  shouldered  his  canteen  and 
came  back. 

"My  daughter  tells  me,"  began  the  Colonel 
formally,  "that  you  are  the  son  of  my  old  friend, 
John  Holman;  and  I  trust  that  you  will  take 
my  hand." 

He  held  out  his  hand  and  Wiley  blinked  as  he 
returned  the  warm  clasp  of  his  friend.  Ten  days 
of  companionship  in  the  midst  of  that  solitude 
had  knitted  their  souls  together  and  he  loved 
the  old  Colonel  like  a  father. 

"That's  all  right,"  he  muttered.  "And — say, 
hunt  up  the  Old  Man!  Because  he  thinks  the  world 
of  you,  still." 

"I  will  do  so,"  replied  the  Colonel,  "but  will 
you  do  me  a  favor?  By  gad,  sir;  I  can't  let  you 
go.  No,  you  must  stay  with  me,  Wiley,  if  that  is 
your  name;  I  want  to  talk  with  you  later,  about 
your  father.  But  now,  as  a  favor,  since  Virginia 
has  come  so  far,  I  will  ask  you  to  sit  down  and 
listen  to  her.     And — er — Wiley;   just  a  moment  I'1 


286  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

He  beckoned  him  to  one  side  and  spoke  low  in 
his  ear.  " About  that  woman  who  betrayed  your 
trust — perhaps  I'd  better  not  mention  her  to  Vir- 
giniar 

Wiley's  eyes  grew  big  and  then  they  narrowed. 
The  Colonel  thought  there  was  another  woman. 
How  could  he,  proud  soul,  even  think  for  a  moment 
that  Virginia  herself  had  betrayed  him?  No,  to  his 
high  mind  it  was  inconceivable  that  a  daughter  of 
his  should  violate  a  trust;  and  there  was  Virginia, 
watching  them. 

"Very  well,"  replied  Wiley,  and  smiled  to  himself 
as  he  laid  down  his  gun  and  canteen.  He  led  the 
way  up  the  creek  to  where  a  gnarled  old  cotton- 
wood  cast  its  shadow  against  the  cliff  and  smoothed 
out  a  seat  against  the  bank.  "Now  sit  down," 
he  said,  "and  let's  have  this  over  with  before  the 
Colonel  gets  wise.  He's  a  fine  old  gentleman  and 
if  his  daughter  took  after  him  I  wouldn't  be  dodg- 
ing the  sheriff." 

"Well,  I  came  to  tell  you,"  began  Virginia  bravely, 
"that  I'm  sorry  for  what  I've  done.  And  to  show 
you  that  I  mean  it  I  gave  Blount  back  his  stock." 

Wiley  gazed  at  her  grimly  for  a  moment  and 
then  he  curled  up  his  lip.  "Why  not  come  through," 
he  asked  at  last,  "and  acknowledge  that  he  held  it 
out  on  you?" 

Virginia  started  and  then  she  smiled  wanly. 

"No,"  she  said,  "it  wasn't  quite  that.  And  yet — 
well,  he  didn't  really  give  it  to  me." 

"I    knew   it!"   exploded    Wiley,    "the   doggoned 


THE   BROKEN  TRUST  ;  287 

piker!  But  of  course  you  made  a  clean-up  on 
your  other  stock?" 

"No,  I  didn't!  I  gave  that  away,  too!  But 
Wiley,  why  won't  you  listen  to  me?  I  didn't  in- 
tend to  do  it,  but  he  explained  it  all  so  nicely ' 

"Didn't  I  tell  you  he  would?"  he  raged. 

"Yes,  but  listen;  you  don't  understand.  When 
I  went  to  him  first  I  asked  for  Father's  stock  and 
— he  must  have  known  what  was  coming.  I  guess 
he  saw  the  bills.  Anyway,  he  told  me  then  that  he 
had  always  loved  my  father,  and  that  he  wanted 
to  protect  us  from  you;  and  so,  he  said,  he  was 
just  holding  my  Father's  stock  to  keep  you  from 
getting  it  away  from  us.  And  then  he  called  in 
some  friends  of  his;  and  oh,  they  all  became  so 
indignant  that  I  thought  I  couldn't  be  wrong! 
Why,  they  showed  me  that  you  would  make  mil- 
lions by  the  deal,  and  all  at  our  expense;  and  then 
— I  don't  know,  something  came  over  me.  We'd 
been  poor  so  long,  and  it  would  make  you  so  rich; 
and,  like  a  fool,  I  went  and  did  it." 

"Well,  that's  all  right,"  said  Wiley.  "I  forgive 
you,  and  all  that;  but  don't  let  your  father  know. 
He's  got  old-fashioned  ideas  about  keeping  a  trust 
and — say,  do  you  know  what  he  thinks?  I  hap- 
pened to  mention,  the  first  night  I  got  in,  that 
a  woman  had  thrown  me  down;  and  he  just  now 
took  me  aside  and  told  me  not  to  worry  because 
he'd  never  mention  the  lady  to  you.  He  thinks 
it  was  somebody  else." 

"Oh,"  breathed  Virginia,  and  then  she  sat  silent 


288  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

while  he  kicked  a  hole  in  the  dirt  and  waited.  He 
was  willing  to  concede  anything,  agree  to  any- 
thing, look  pleasant  at  anything,  until  the  ordeal 
was  over;  and  then  he  intended  to  depart.  Where 
he  would  go  was  a  detail  to  be  considered  later 
when  he  felt  the  need  of  something  to  occupy 
his  mind;  right  now  he  was  only  thinking  that  she 
looked  very  pale — and  there  was  a  tired,  hunted 
look  in  her  eyes.  She  had  nerves,  of  course,  the 
same  as  he  had,  and  the  trip  across  Death  Valley 
had  been  hard  on  her;  but  if  she  suffered  now,  he 
had  suffered  also,  and  he  failed  to  be  as  sorry  as 
he  should. 

"You'll  be  all  right  now,"  he  said  at  last,  when 
it  seemed  she  would  never  speak  up,  "and  I'm 
glad  you  found  your  father.  He'll  go  back  with 
you  now  and  take  a  fall  out  of  Blount  and — well, 
you  won't  feel  so  poor,  any  more." 

"Yes,  I  will,"  returned  Virginia,  suddenly  rousing 
up  and  looking  at  him  with  haggard  eyes.  Til 
always  feel  poor,  because  if  I  gave  you  back  all 
I  had  it  wouldn't  be  a  tenth  of  what  you  lost." 

"Oh,  that's  all  right,"  grumbled  Wiley.  "I  don't 
care  about  the  money.  Are  they  hunting  me  for 
murder,  or  what?" 

"Oh,  no;  not  for  anything!"  she  answered 
eagerly.  "You'll  come  back,  won't  you,  Wiley? 
Mother  was  watching  you  through  her  glasses,  and 
she  says  George  fired  first.  They  aren't  trying  to 
arrest  you;  all  they  want  you  to  do  is  to  give  up 
and  stand  a  brief  trial.     And  I'll  help  you,  Wiley; 


THE  BROKEN  TRUST  289 

oh,  I've  just  got  to  do  something  or  I'll  be  miserable 
all  my  life!" 

"You're  tired  now,"  said  Wiley.  "It'll  look  dif- 
ferent, pretty  soon;  and — well,  I  don't  think  I'll 
go  in,  right  now." 

"But  where  will  you  go?"  she  entreated  piteously. 
"Oh,  Wiley,  can't  you  see  I'm  sorry?  Why  can't 
you  forgive  me  and  let  me  try  to  make  amends, 
:nstead  of  making  both  our  lives  so  miserable?" 

"I  don't  know,"  answered  Wiley.  "It's  just  the 
way  I  feel.  I've  got  nothing  against  you;  I  just 
want  to  get  away  and  forget  a  few  things  that 
you've  done." 

"And  then?"  she  asked,  and  he  smiled  enig- 
matically. 

"Well,  maybe  you'll  forget  me,  too." 

"But  Father!"  she  objected  as  he  rose  up  sud- 
denly and  started  off  down  the  creek.  "He  thinks 
we're  lovers,  you  know."  Wiley  stopped  and  the 
cold  anger  in  his  eyes  gave  way  to  a  look  of  doubt. 
"Why  not  pretend  we  are?'  she  suggested  wist- 
fully. "Not  really,  but  just  before  him.  I  told 
him  we'd  quarreled — and  he  knows  I  followed 
after  you.  Just  to-day,  Wiley;  and  then  you  can 
go.     But  if  my  father  should  think " 

"Well,  all  right,"  he  broke  in,  and  as  they  stepped 
out  into  the  open  she  slipped  her  hand  into  his. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 
A  Huff 

THE  Colonel  was  sitting  in  the  shade  of  a  wild 
grape-vine  rapping  out  a  series  of  questions 
at  Charley,  but  at  sight  of  the  young  people 
coming  back  hand  in  hand,  he  paused  and  smiled 
understandingly. 

"What  now?'  he  said.  "Is  there  a  new  earth 
and  a  new  heaven?  Ah,  well;  then  Virginia's 
trip  was  worth  while.  But  Charley  here  is  so  full 
of  signs  and  wonders  that  my  brain  is  fairly  in  a 
whirl.  The  Germans,  it  seems,  have  made  a 
forty-two  centimeter  gun  that  is  blasting  down 
cities  in  France;  and  the  Allies,  to  beat  them, 
are  constructing  still  larger  ones  made  out  of  tung- 
sten that  is  mined  from  the  Paymaster.  Yes,  yes, 
Charley,  that's  all  right,  I  don't  doubt  your  word, 
but  we'll  call  on  Wiley  for  the  details." 

He  laughed  indulgently  and  poured  Charley  out 
a  drink  which  made  his  eyes  blink  and  snap  and 
then  he  waved  him  graciously  away. 

"Take  your  burros  up  the  canyon,"  he  suggested 
briefly,    and    when    Charley   was    gone    he    smiled. 
Now,"  he  said,  as  Virginia  sat  down  beside  him, 
what's  all  this  about  the  Paymaster  and  Keno?" 
Well,"    began    Virginia    as    Wiley    sat    silent, 

290 


A  HUFF  291 

"there  really  was  tungsten  in  the  mine.  Wiley  dis- 
covered it  first — he  was  just  going  through  the 
town  when  he  saw  that  specimen  in  my  collection — 
and  since  then, — oh,  everything  has  happened!" 

"By  the  dog!"  exclaimed  the  Colonel  starting 
quickly  to  his  feet.  "Do  you  mean  that  Crazy 
Charley  spoke  the  truth?  Is  the  mine  really  open 
and  the  town  full  of  people  and " 

"You  wouldn't  know  it!'  cried  Virginia,  tri- 
umphantly. "All  that  heavy,  white  quartz  was 
tungsten!" 

"What?  That  waste  on  the  dump?  But  how 
much  is  it  worth?  Old  Charley  says  it's  better 
than  geld!" 

"It  is!"  she  answered.  "Why,  some  of  that  rock 
ran  five  thousand  dollars  to  the  ton!" 

"Five — thousand!'  repeated  the  Colonel,  and 
then  he  whirled  on  Wiley.  "What's  the  reason, 
then,"  he  demanded,  "that  you're  hiding  out  here 
in  the  hills  ?     Didn't  you  get  possession  of  the  mine  ? ' 

"Under  a  bond  and  lease,"  explained  Wiley  shortly. 
"I  failed  to  meet  the  final  payment." 

"Why — how  much  was  this  payment?"  inquired 
the  Colonel  cautiously,  as  he  sensed  the  sudden 
constraint.  "It  seems  to  me  the  mine  should 
have  paid  it  at  once." 

"Fifty  thousand,"  answered  Wiley,  gazing  glumly 
at  the  ground  and  the  Colonel  opened  his  eyes! 

"Fifty  thousand!"  he  exclaimed.  "Only  fifty 
thousand  dollars?  Well!  What  were  the  circum- 
stances, Wiley?" 


292  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

He  stood  expectant  and  as  Wiley  boggled  and 
hesitated  Virginia  rose  up  and  stood  beside  him. 

"He  got  the  bond  and  lease  from  Blount/*  she 
began,  talking  rapidly,  "and  when  Blount  found 
that  the  white  quartz  was  tungsten  ore,  he  did  all 
he  could  to  block  Wiley.  When  Wiley  first  came 
through  the  town  and  stopped  at  our  house  he 
knew  that  that  white  quartz  was  tungsten;  but  he 
couldn't  do  anything,  then.  And  then,  by-and- 
by,  when  he  tried  to  bond  the  mine,  Blount  came 
up  himself  and  tried  to  work  it." 

"He  did,  eh?"  cried  the  Colonel.  "Well,  by  what 
right,  Fd  like  to  know,  did  he  dare  tc  take  pos- 
session of  the  Paymaster?" 

"Oh,  he'd  bought  up  all  the  stock;  and  Mother, 
she  took  yours  and " 

"What?"  yelled  the  Colonel,  and  then  he  closed 
down  his  jaw  and  his  blue  eyes  sparkled  ominously. 
"Proceed,"  he  said.  "The  information,  first — but, 
by  the  gods,  he  shall  answer  for  this!" 

"But  all  the  time,"  went  on  Virginia  hastily,  "the 
mine  belonged  to  Wiley.  It  had  been  sold  for 
taxes — and  he  bought  it!" 

"Ah!"  observed  the  Colonel,  and  glanced  at 
him  shrewdly  for  he  saw  now  where  the  tale  was 
going. 

"Well,"  continued  Virginia,  "when  Blount  saw 
Wiley  wanted  it  he  came  up  and  took  it  himself. 
And  he  hired  Stiff  Neck  George  to  herd  the  mine 
and  keep  Wiley  and  everybody  away.  But  when 
he   was   working   it,   why   Wiley   came   back   and 


A  HUFF  293 

claimed  it  under  the  tax  sale;  and  he  went  right 
up  to  the  mine  and  took  away  George's  gun — 
and  kicked  him  down  the  dump!" 

"He  did!"  exclaimed  the  Colonel,  but  Wiley  did 
not  look  up,  for  his  mind  was  on  the  end  of  the  tale. 

"And  then — oh,  it's  all  mixed  up,  but  Blount 
couldn't  find  any  gold  and  so  he  leased  the  mine 
to  Wiley.  And  the  minute  he  found  that  the 
white  quartz  was  tungsten,  and  worth  three  dol- 
lars a  pound,  he  was  mad  as  anything  and  did 
everything  he  could  to  keep  him  from  meeting  the 
payment.  But  Wiley  went  ahead  and  shipped  a 
lot  of  ore  and  made  a  lot  of  money  in  spite  of  him. 
He  cleaned  out  the  mine  and  fixed  up  the  mill 
and  oh,  Father,  you  wouldn't  know  the  place!'1 

"Probably  not!"  returned  the  Colonel,  "but 
proceed  with  your  story.  Who  holds  the  Pay- 
master, now?" 

"Why  Blount,  of  course,  and  he's  moved  back  to 
town  and  is  simply  shoveling  out  the  ore!" 

"The  scoundrel ! "  burst  out  the  Colonel.  "  Wiley, 
we  will  return  to  Keno  immediately  and  bring 
this  blackguard  to  book!  I  have  a  stake  in  this 
matter,  myself!" 

"Nope,  not  for  me!'1  answered  Wiley  wearily. 
"You  haven't  heard  all  the  story.  I  fell  down 
on  the  final  payment — it  makes  no  difference 
how — and  when  I  came  back  Blount  had  jumped 
the  mine  and  Stiff  Neck  George  was  in  charge. 
But  instead  of  warning  me  off  he  hid  behind  a  car 
and — well,  I  don't  care  to  go  back  there,  now." 


294  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"Why,  certainly!  You  must!"  declared  the 
Colonel  warmly.  "You  were  acting  in  self  defense 
and  I  consider  that  your  conduct  was  justified. 
In  fact,  my  boy,  I  wish  to  congratulate  you — Charley 
tells  me  he  had  the  drop  on  you." 

"Yes,  sure,"  grumbled  Wiley,  "but  you  aren't 
the  judge — and  there's  a  whole  lot  more  to  the 
story.  It  happens  that  I  took  an  option  on  Blount's 
Paymaster  stock,  but  when  I  ofFered  the  payment 
he  protested  the  contract  and  took  the  case  to 
court.  Now — he's  got  the  town  of  Vegas  in  his 
inside  vest  pocket,  the  lawyers  and  judges  and 
all;  and  do  you  think  for  a  minute  he's  going 
to  let  me  come  back  and  take  away  those  four  hun- 
dred thousand  shares?" 

"Four  hundred  thousand?"  repeated  the  Colonel 
incredulously,  "do  you  mean  to  tell  me " 

"Yes,  you  bet  I  do!"  said  Wiley,  "and  I'll  tell 
you  something  else.  According  to  the  dates  on 
the  back  of  those  certificates  it  was  Blount  that 
sold  you  out.  He  sold  all  his  promotion  stock 
before  the  panic;  and  then,  when  the  price  was 
down  to  nothing,  he  turned  around  and  bought 
it  back.  I  knew  from  the  first  that  he'd  lied 
about  my  father  and  I  kept  after  him  till  I  got 
my  hands  on  that  stock — and  then,  when  I'd  proved 
it,  he  tried  to  put  the  blame  on  you!" 

"The  devil!"  exclaimed  the  Colonel,  and  paced 
up  and  down,  snapping  his  fingers  and  muttering  to 
himself.  "The  cowardly  dastard!'  he  burst  out 
at   last.     "He  has  poisoned   ten  years  of  my  life. 


A  HUFF  295 

I  must  hurry  back  at  once  and  go  to  John  Holman 
and  apologize  to  him  publicly  for  this  affront. 
After  all  the  years  that  we  were  pardners  in  every- 
thing, and  then  to  have  me  doubt  his  integrity! 
He  was  the  soul  of  honor,  one  man  in  ten  thousand; 
and  yet  I  took  the  word  of  this  lying  Blount  against 
the  man  I  called  My  Friend!  I  remember,  by 
gad,  as  if  it  were  yesterday,  the  first  time  I  really 
knew  your  father;  and  Blount  was  squeezing  me, 
then.  I  owed  him  fifteen  thousand  dollars  on  a 
certain  piece  of  property  that  was  worth  fifty 
thousand  at  least;  and  at  the  very  last  moment, 
when  he  was  about  to  foreclose,  John  Holman 
loaned  me  the  money.  He  mortgaged  his  cattle 
at  the  other  bank  and  put  the  money  in  my  hand, 
and  Blount  cursed  him  for  an  interfering  fool! 
That  was  Blount,  the  Shylock,  and  Honest  John 
Holman;  and  1  turned  against  my  friend." 

"Yes,  that's  right,"  agreed  Wiley,  "but  if  you 
want  to  make  up  for  it,  make  'em  quit  calling 
him  'Honest  John'!" 

"No,  indeed,"  cried  the  Colonel,  his  voice  trem- 
ulous with  emotion.  "He  shall  still  be  called  Honest 
John;  and  if  any  man  doubts  it  or  speaks  the 
name  fleeringly  he  shall  answer  personally  to  me. 
And  now,  about  this  stock — what  was  that,  Vir- 
ginia, that  you  were  saying  about  my  holdings?' 

"Why,  Mother  put  them  up  as  collateral  on  a 
loan,  and  Blount  claimed  them  at  the  end  of  the 
first  month." 

"All  my  stock?     Well,  by  the  horn-spoon — how 


296  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

much  did  your  mother  borrow?  Eight — hundred? 
Eight  hundred  dollars?  Well,  that  is  enough,  on 
the  face  of  it — but  never  mind,  I  will  recover  the 
stock.  It  is  certainly  a  revelation  of  human  nature. 
The  moment  I  am  reported  dead,  these  vultures 
strip  my  family  of  their  all." 

"Well,  I  was  one  of  them,"  spoke  up  Wiley 
bluntly,  "but  you  don't  need  to  blame  my  father. 
When  I  was  having  trouble  with  Mrs.  Huff  he 
wrote  up  and  practically  disowned  me." 

"So  you  were  one  of  them,"  observed  the  Colonel 
mildly.  "And  you  had  trouble  with  Mrs.  Huff? 
But  no  matter?"  he  went  on.  "We  can  discuss  all 
that  later — now  to  return  to  this  law-suit,  with 
Blount.  Do  I  understand  that  you  had  an  option 
on  his  entire  four  hundred  thousand  shares?' 

For  twenty  thousand  dollars,"  answered  Wiley, 

and  he  was  glad  to  get  it — but,  of  course,  when  I 
opened  up  that  big  body  of  tungsten,  the  stock  was 
worth  into  millions.  That  is,  if  he  could  keep 
me  from  making  both  payments.  He  fought  me 
from  the  start,  but  I  put  up  the  twenty  thousand; 
and  the  clerk  of  the  court  is  holding  it  yet,  unless 
the  case  is  decided.  But  Blount  knew  he  could 
beat  it,  if  he  could  keep  me  from  buying  the  mine 
under  the  terms  of  my  bond  and  lease;  and  now 
that  he's  in  possession,  taking  out  thirty  or  forty 
thousand  every  day,  I'm  licked  before  I  begin. 
In  fact,  the  case  is  called  already  and  lost  by  default 
if  I  know  that  black-leg  lawyer  of  mine." 

"But  hire  a  good  lawyer!"  protested  the  Colonel. 


it 


A  HUFF  297 

"A  man  has  a  right  to  his  day  in  court  and  you 
have  never  appeared." 

"No,  and  I  never  will,"  spoke  up  Wiley  de- 
spondently. "There's  a  whole  lot  to  this  case  that 
you  don't  know.  And  the  minute  I  appear  they'll 
arrest  me  for  murder  and  railroad  me  off  to  the 
Pen.     No,  I'm  not  going  back,  that's  all." 

"But  Wiley,"  reasoned  the  Colonel,  "you've  got 
great  interests  at  stake — and  your  father  will  help 
you,  I'm  sure." 

"No,  he  won't,"  declared  Wiley.  "There  isn't 
anybody  that  can  help  me,  because  Blount  is  in 
control  of  the  courts.  And  I  might  as  well  add 
that  I  was  run  out  of  Vegas  by  a  Committee  ap- 
pointed for  the  purpose."  He  rose  up  abruptly, 
rolling  his  sullen  eyes  on  Virginia  and  the  Colonel 
alike.  "In  fact,"  he  burst  out,  "I  haven't  got  a 
friend  on  the  east  side  of  Death  Valley  Sink." 

"But  on  the  west  side,"  suggested  the  Colonel, 
drawing  Virginia  to  his  side,  "you  have  two  good 
friends  that  I  know " 


a 


Wait  till  you  hear  it  all,"  broke  in  Wiley,  bit- 
terly, "and  you're  likely  to  change  your  mind. 
No,  I'm  busted,  I  tell  you,  and  the  best  thing  I 
can  do  is  drift  and  never  come  back." 

"And  Virginia?"  inquired  the  Colonel.  "Am  I 
right  in  supposing " 

"No,"  he  flared  up.  "Friend  Virginia  has  quit 
me,  along  with " 

"Why,  Wiley!"  cried  Virginia,  and  he  started 
and  fell  silent  as  he  met  her  reproachful  gaze.     For 


298  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

the  sake  of  the  Colonel  they  were  supposed  to  be 
lovers,  whose  quarrel  had  been  happily  made  up, 
but  this  was  very  un-loverlike. 

"Well,  I  don't  deserve  it,"  he  muttered  at  last, 
"but  friend  Virginia  has  promised  to  stay  with  me." 

"Yes,  I'm  going  to  stay  with  him,"  spoke  up 
Virginia  quickly,  "because  it  was  all  my  fault. 
I'm  going  to  go  with  him,  father,  wherever  he 
goes  and " 

"God  bless  you,  my  daughter!"  said  the  Colonel, 
smiling  proudly,  "and  never  forget  you're  a  Huff!' 


\ 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 
The  Fiery  Furnace 

TO  be  a  Huff,  of  course,  was  to  be  brave  and 
true  and  never  go  back  on  a  friend;  but 
as  the  Colonel  that  evening  began  to  speak 
on  the  subject,  Virginia  crept  off  to  bed.  She 
was  tired  from  her  night  trip  across  the  Sink  of 
Death  Valley,  with  only  Crazy  Charley  for  a  guide; 
but  it  was  Wiley,  the  inexorable,  who  drove  her 
off  weeping,  for  he  would  not  take  her  hand.  His 
mind  was  still  fixed  on  the  Gethsemane  of  the 
soul  that  he  had  gone  through  in  Blount's  bank 
at  Vegas,  and  strive  as  she  would  she  could  not  bring 
him  back  to  play  his  poor  part  as  lover.  Whether 
she  loved  him  or  not  was  not  the  question — not 
even  if  she  was  willing  to  throw  away  her  life  by 
following  him  in  his  wanderings.  Three  times  he 
had  trusted  her  and  three  times  she  had  played 
him  false — and  was  that  the  honor  of  the  Huffs? 

She  was  penitent  now  and,  in  the  presence  of 
her  father,  more  gentle  and  womanly  than  seemed 
possible;  but  next  week  or  next  month  or  in  the 
long  years  to  come,  was  she  the  woman  he  could 
trust?  They  passed  before  his  eyes  in  a  swift 
series  of  images,  the  days  when  he  had  trusted  her 

299 


300  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

before;  and  always,  behind  her  smile,  there  was 
something  else,  something  cold  and  calculating  and 
unkind.  Her  eyes  were  soft  now,  and  gentle  and 
imploring,  but  they  had  looked  at  him  before  with 
scorn  and  hateful  laughter,  when  he  had  staked  his 
soul  on  her  word.  He  had  trusted  her — too  far — 
and  before  Blount  and  all  his  sycophants  she  had 
made  him  a  mock  and  a  reviling. 

The  Colonel  was  talking,  for  his  mood  was  ex- 
pansive, but  at  last  he  fell  silent  and  waited. 

"Wiley,  my  boy  "  he  said  when  Wiley  looked  up, 
"you  must  not  let  the  past  overmaster  you.  We 
all  make  mistakes,  but  if  our  hearts  are  right  there 
is  nothing  that  should  cause  vain  regrets.  I  judged 
from  what  you  said  once  that  your  present  disaster 
is  due  to  a  misplaced  trust — in  fact,  if  I  remember, 
to  a  woman.  But  do  not  let  this  treachery,  this 
betrayal  of  a  trust,  turn  your  mind  against  all 
womankind.  I  have  known  many  noble  and  high- 
minded  women  whom  I  would  trust  with  my  very 
life;  and  since  Virginia,  as  I  gather,  has  offered  to 
bind  up  your  wounds,  I  hope  you  will  not  remain 
embittered.  She  is  my  daughter,  of  course,  and 
my  love  may  have  blinded  me;  but  in  all  the 
long  years  she  has  been  at  my  side,  I  can  think 
of  no  instance  in  which  she  has  played  me  false. 
Her  nature  is  passionate,  and  she  is  sometimes  quick 
to  anger,  but  behind  it  all  she  is  devotion  itself  and 
you  can  trust  her  absolutely." 

He  paused  expectantly,  but  as  Wiley  made  no 
response  he  rose  up  and  knocked  out  his  pipe. 


THE  FIERY  FURNACE  301 

"Well,  good  night,"  he  said.  "It  is  time  we  were 
retiring  if  we  are  to  cross  the  Valley  to-morrow. 
Have  a  drink?  Well,  all  right;  it's  just  as  well. 
You're  a  good  boy,  Wiley;  I'm  proud  of  you." 

He  clapped  him  on  the  shoulder  as  he  went  off* 
to  bed,  but  Wiley  sat  brooding  by  the  fire.  Death 
Valley  Charley  took  his  blankets  and  rolled  up 
in  the  creek  bed,  so  that  his  burros  could  not 
sneak  by  him  in  the  night,  and  Heine  laid  down 
beside  him;  but  when  all  was  quiet  Wiley  rose  up 
silently  and  tiptoed  about  the  camp.  He  strapped 
on  his  pistol  and  picked  up  his  gun,  but  as  he 
was  groping  in  the  darkness  for  his  canteen  Heine 
trotted  up  and  flapped  his  ears.  It  was  his  sign 
of  friendship,  like  wagging  his  tail,  and  Wiley 
patted  him  quietly;  but  when  he  was  gone,  he 
lifted  the  canteen  and  slung  it  over  his  shoulder. 
In  the  land  where  he  was  going  there  were  more 
dangers  than  one,  but  lack  of  water  was  the  greatest. 
He  stepped  out  into  the  moonlight  and  then,  from 
the  cave,  he  heard  a  muffled  sound.  Virginia  was 
there  and  he  was  running  away  from  her.  He 
listened  again — she  was  crying!  Not  weeping  aloud 
or  in  choking  sobs  but  in  stifled,  heart-broken 
sighs.  He  lowered  his  gun  and  stood  scowling  and 
irresolute,  then  he  turned  back  and  went  to  bed. 

In  the  morning  they  started  late,  resting  in  the 
shade  of  the  Gateway  until  the  sun  had  swung  to 
the  west;  and  then,  as  the  shadow  of  the  Panamints 
stretched  out  across  the  Valley,  they  repacked  and 
started  down  the  slope.     In  the  lead  went  old  Jinny, 


3o2  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

the  mother  of  the  bunch,  and  Jack  and  Johnny 
and  Baby;  and  following  behind  his  burros,  paced 
Death  Valley  Charley  with  a  long,  willow  club  in 
his  hand.  The  Colonel  strode  ahead,  his  mind 
on  weighty  matters;  and  behind  him  came  Vir- 
ginia on  her  free-footed  burro  with  Wiley  plodding 
silently  in  the  rear.  At  irregular  intervals  Heine 
would  drop  back  from  the  lead  and  sniff  at  them 
each  in  turn,  but  nothing  was  said,  for  the  air 
was  furnace  dry  and  they  were  saving  their  strength 
for  the  sand. 

At  sundown  they  reached  the  edge  of  the  first 
yielding  sand-dune  that  presaged  the  long  pull  to 
come  and  Death  Valley  Charley  stopped  and 
opened  up  a  water-can  while  the  burros  gathered 
eagerly  around.  Then  he  poured  each  of  them 
a  drink  in  his  shapeless  old  hat  and  started  them 
across  the  Sink. 

"Now,  you  see?"  he  said,  "you  see  where  Tinny 
goes?  She  heads  straight  for  Stove-pipe  Hole. 
She  knows  she  gits  water  there  and  that  makes  her 
hurry — and  the  others  they  tag  along  behind." 

He  took  another  drink  from  the  Colonel's  private 
stock  and  smiled  as  he  smacked  his  lips.  "It's 
hot  to-day,"  he  observed,  squinting  down  his  eyes 
and  gazing  ahead  through  the  haze;  "yes,  it's  hot 
for  this  time  of  year.  But  Virginia,  you  ride; 
and  when  Tom  won't  go  no  further,  git  off  and  he'll 
lead  you  to  camp." 

He  went  on  ahead,  swinging  his  club  and  laughing, 
and  Heine  trotted  soberly  at  his  side;    and  as  he 


THE  FIERY  FURNACE  303 

followed  the  trough  of  sand-wave  after  sand-wave, 
the  rest  plodded  along  behind.  A  dry,  baking 
heat  seemed  to  rise  up  from  the  ground  and  the 
air  was  heavy  and  still;  the  burros  began  to  groan 
as  they  toiled  up  the  slope  and  their  flanks  turned 
wet  with  sweat;  and  then,  as  they  topped  a  wave, 
they  felt  the  scorching  breath  of  the  Sink.  It 
came  in  pufFs  like  the  waves  of  some  great  sea 
upon  whose  shores  they  had  set  their  feet;  a  seething, 
heaving  sea  of  heat,  breathing  death  along  its 
lonely  beach.  It  struck  through  their  clothes  like 
a  blast  of  wind  or  the  shimmering  glow  of  a  furnace 
and  at  each  drink  of  water  the  sweat  damped 
their  brows  and  trickled  in  streams  down  their 
faces.  A  wearied  burro  halted  and,  as  Charley 
chased  him  with  his  club,  the  rest  rushed  ahead  to 
escape;  and  then,  as  they  came  to  the  crest  of  the 
wave,  Virginia's  burro  stopped  dead. 

"I'll  lead  him,"  she  said  as  Wiley  came  up,  and 
started  after  the  pack.  Wiley  walked  along  beside 
her,  for  he  saw  that  she  was  spent;  and  as  her 
slender  feet  sank  deep  in  the  yielding  sand  she 
lagged  and  slowed  down,  and  stopped.  Then  as 
she  turned  to  take  her  canteen  from  the  saddle, 
she  swayed  and  clutched  at  the  horn. 

"You'd  better  ride,"  he  said  and,  taking  her  in 
his  arms,  he  lifted  her  to  the  saddle  like  a  child. 
Then  he  walked  along  behind,  flogging  the  buiro 
into  action,  but  still  they  lagged  to  the  rear.  The 
moon  rose  up  gleaming  and  cast  black  shadows 
along  the  sand-dunes,  and  in  the  lee  of  the  wind- 


304  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

wracked  mesquite  trees;  and  from  the  darkness 
ahead  of  them  they  could  hear  crazy  shoutings  as 
Charley  belabored  his  fleeing  animals.  They  showed 
dim  and  ghostly,  as  they  topped  a  distant  ridge; 
and  then  Wiley  and  Virginia  were  alone.  The 
pack-train,  the  Colonel  and  Death  Valley  Charley 
had  vanished  behind  the  crest  of  a  wave;  and  as 
Wiley  stopped  to  listen  Virginia  drooped  in  the 
saddle  and  fell,  very  gently,  into  his  arms. 

He  held  her  a  moment,  overcome  with  sudden 
pity,  and  then  in  a  rush  of  unexpected  emotion, 
he  crushed  her  to  his  breast  and  kissed  her.  She 
was  his,  after  all,  to  cherish,  and  protect;  a  frail 
reed,  broken  by  his  hand;  and  as  he  gave  her  water 
and  bathed  her  face  he  remembered  her  weeping 
in  the  night.  Her  tears  had  been  for  him,  whom 
she  had  followed  so  far  only  to  find  him  harsh  and 
unforgiving;  and  now,  weak  from  grief,  she  had 
fainted  in  his  arms,  which  had  never  reached  out 
to  console  her.  He  gathered  her  to  his  breast  in 
a  belated  atonement  and  as  he  kissed  her  again 
she  stirred.  Then  he  put  her  down,  but  when 
she  felt  his  hands  slacken  she  reached  up  and 
caught  him  by  the  neck.  So  she  held  him  a  while, 
until  something  gave  way  within  him  and  he  pressed 
his  lips  to  hers. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 
A  Clean-up 

A  COOL  breeze  drew  down  through  Emigrant 
Wash  and  soothed  the  fever  heat  of  Death 
Valley,  and  as  the  morning  star  rose  up 
like  a  blazing  beacon,  Wiley  carried  Virginia  to 
Stove-Pipe.  They  had  sat  for  hours  on  the  crest 
of  a  sand-hill,  looking  out  over  the  sea  of  waves 
that  seemed  to  ride  on  and  mingle  in  the  moon- 
light, and  with  no  one  to  listen  they  had  talked 
out  their  hearts  and  pledged  the  future  in  a  kiss. 
Then  they  had  gazed  long  and  rested,  looking  up 
at  the  countless  stars  that  obscured  the  Milky 
Way  with  their  pin-points;  and  when  the  Colonel 
had  found  them  Wiley  was  carrying  her  in  his  arms 
as  if  her  weight  were  nothing. 

They  camped  at  Stove-Pipe  that  day  while 
Virginia  gained  back  her  strength,  and  at  last  they 
came  in  sight  of  Keno.  She  was  riding  now  and 
Wiley  was  walking,  with  his  head  bowed  down 
in  thought;  but  when  he  looked  up  she  reached 
out,  smiling  wistfully,  and  touched  him  with  her 
hand.  But  the  Colonel  strode  ahead,  his  head 
held  high,  his  eagle  eyes  searching  the  distance; 
and  when  people  ran  out  to  greet  him  he  thrust 

30s 


306  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

them  aside,  for  he  had  spied  Samuel  Blount  in  the 
crowd. 

Blount  was  standing  just  outside  the  Widow's 
gate  and  a  voice,  unmistakable,  was  demanding 
in  frantic  haste  the  return  of  certain  shares  of 
stock.  It  was  hardly  the  time  for  a  business  trans- 
action, for  her  husband  was  returning  as  from 
the  dead,  but  a  sudden  sense  of  her  misused  stew- 
ardship had  driven  the  Widow  to  distraction. 

"What  now?"  demanded  the  Colonel,  as  he  ap- 
peared upon  the  scene  and  his  wife  made  a  rush  to 
embrace  him.  "Is  this  the  time  for  scolding? 
Why,  certainly  I  was  alive — why  should  anybody 
doubt  it  ?    You  may  await  me  in  the  house,  Aurelia ! " 

"But  Henry!"  she  wailed.  "Oh,  I  thought  you 
were  dead— and  this  devil  has  robbed  me  of  every- 
thing!" 

She  pointed  a  threatening  finger  at  Blount,  who 
stepped  forward,  his  lower  lip  trembling. 

"Why,  how  are  you,  Colonel!"  he  exclaimed 
with  affected  heartiness.  "Well,  well;  we  thought 
you  were  dead." 

"So  I  hear!"  observed  the  Colonel,  and  looked 
at  him  so  coldly  that  Blount  blushed  and  withdrew 
his  outstretched  hand.  "So  I  hear,  sir!,:  he  re- 
peated, "but  you  were  misinformed — I  have  come 
back  to  protect  my  rights." 

"He  took  all  your  stock,"  cried  the  Widow,  vin- 
dictively, "on  a  loan  of  eight  hundred  dollars. 
And  now  he  won't  give  it  back." 

"Never   mind,"    returned   the  Colonel.      'I  will 


A  CLEAN-UP  307 

attend  to  all  that  if  you  will  go  in  and  cook  me 
some  dinner.  And  next  time  I  leave  home  I  would 
recommend,  Madam,  that  you  leave  my  business 
affairs  alone." 

"But  Henry,"  she  began,  but  he  gazed  at  her  so 
sternly  that  she  turned  and  slipped  away. 

"And  you,  sir,"  continued  the  Colonel,  his  words 
ringing  out  like  pistol  shots  as  he  unloosed  his 
wrath  upon  Blount,  "I  would  like  to  inquire  what 
excuse  you  have  to  offer  for  imposing  on  my  wife 
and  child?  Is  it  true,  as  I  hear,  that  you  have 
taken  my  stock  on  a  loan  of  eight  hundred  dollars?" 

"Why— why,  no!    That  is,  Colonel  Huff " 

"Have  you  the  stock  in  your  possession?"  de- 
manded the  Colonel  peremptorily.  "Yes  or  no, 
now;  and  no  'huts'  about  it!" 

"Why,  yes;  I  have,"  admitted  Blount  in  a 
scared  voice,  "but  I  came  by  it  according  to  law!" 

"You  did  not,  sir!"  retorted  the  Colonel,  "be- 
cause it  was  all  in  my  name  and  my  wife  had  no 
authority  to  transfer  it.  Do  you  deny  the  fact? 
Well,  then  give  me  back  my  stock  or  I  shall  hold 
you,  sir,  personally  responsible!" 

Blount  started  back,  for  he  knew  the  import 
of  those  dread  words,  and  then  he  heaved  a  great 
sigh. 

"Very  well,"  he  said,  "but  I  loaned  her  eight 
hundred  dollars " 

" Wiley !,!  called  the  Colonel,  beckoning  him 
quickly  from  the  crowd.  "Give  me  the  loan  of 
eidit  hundred  dollars." 


3o8  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

And  at  that  Blount  opened  up  his  eyes. 

"Oho!"  he  said,  "so  Wiley  is  with  you?  Well, 
just  a  moment,  Mr.  Huff."  He  turned  to  a  man 
who  stood  beside  him.  "Arrest  that  manl':  he 
said.     "He  killed  my  watchman,  George  Norcross." 

"Not  so  fast!"  rapped  out  the  Colonel,  fixing 
the  officer  with  steely  eyes.  "Mr.  Holman  is  under 
my  protection.  Ah,  thank  you,  Wiley — here  is 
your  money,  Mr.  Blount,  with  fifty  dollars  more 
for  interest.  And  now  I  will  thank  you  for  that 
stock." 

"Do  you  set  yourself  up,"  demanded  Blount 
with  sudden  bluster,  "as  being  above  the  law?' 

"No,  sir,  I  do  not,"  replied  the  Colonel  tartly. 
"But  before  we  go  any  further  I  must  ask  you  to 
restore  my  stock.  Your  order  is  sufficient,  if  the 
certificates  are  elsewhere " 

"Well — all  right!"  sighed  Blount,  and  wrote  out 
an  order  which  Colonel  Huff  gravely  accepted. 
"And  now,"  went  on  Blount,  "I  demand  that  you 
step  aside  and  allow  Wiley  Holman  to  be  taken/' 

The  Colonel's  eyes  narrowed,  and  he  motioned 
the  officer  aside  as  he  laid  his  own  hand  on  Wiley's 
shoulder. 

"Every  citizen  of  the  state,"  he  said  with  dig- 
nity, "has  the  authority  to  arrest  a  fugitive — and 
Mr.  Holman  is  my  prisoner.  Is  that  satisfactory 
to  you,  Mr.  Officer?" 

"Why — why,  yes,"  stammered  the  Constable 
and  as  the  Colonel  smiled  Blount  forgot  his  studied 
repose.     He  had  been  deprived  in  one  minute  of  a 


A  CLEAN-UP  309 

block  of  stock  that  was  worth  a  round  million  dol- 
lars and  the  sting  of  his  great  loss  maddened  him. 

"You,  may  smile,  sif/V.hc  burst  out, /'but  as 
sure  as  there's  a  law  I'll  put  Wiley  Holman  in  the 
Pen.  And  if  you  knew  the  truth,  if  you  knew 
what  he  has  done;  I  wonder,  now,  if  you  would 
go  to  such  lengths?  You  might  ask  your  wife  how 
she  has  fared  in  your  absence — or  ask  Virginia 
there!  Didn't  he  send  her  as  his  messenger,  to 
make  a  fake  payment  that  would  have  deprived  her 
and  her  mother  of  their  rights?  If  it  hadn't  been 
for  me  your  two  hundred  thousand  shares  wouldn't 
be  worth  two  hundred  cents.  I  ask  Virginia  now — 
didn't  he  send  you  to  my  bank " 

"What?"  demanded  the  Colonel,  suddenly  whirl- 
ing upon  his  daughter,  but  Virginia  avoided  his 
eyes. 

"Yes,"  she  said,  "he  did  send  me  down — and  I 
betrayed  rrty  trust.  But  it's  just  because  of  that 
that  we'll  stand  by  him  now " 

"Virginia!"  said  the  Colonel,  speaking  with 
painful  distinctness.  "Do  I  understand  that  you 
were — that  woman?  And  did  Mr.  Blount  here,  by 
any  means  whatever,  persuade  you  to  violate  your 
trust?" 

"Yes,  he  did!"  cried  out  Virginia,  "but  it  was  all 
my  fault  and  I  don't  want  Mr.  Blount  blamed  for 
it.  I  did  it  out  of  meanness,  but  I  was  sorry  for 
it  afterwards  and — oh,  I  wonder  if  I've  got  any 
mail."  She  broke  away  and  dashed  into  the 
house  and  the  Colonel  brushed  back  his  hair. 


3io  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN 

"A  Huff!"  he  murmured.  "My  God,  what  a 
blow!    And  Wiley,  how  can  we  ever  repay  you?" 

"Never  mind,"  answered  Wiley  as  he  took  the 
old  man's  hand.     "I  don't  care  about  the  money." 

"No,  but  the  wrong,  the  disgrace,"  protested  the 
Colonel,  brokenly,  and  then  he  flared  up  at  Blount. 

"You  scoundrel,  sir!"  he  cried.  "How  dared  you 
induce  my  daughter  to  violate  her  sacred  trust? 
By  the  gods,  Sam  Blount,  I  am  greatly  tempted " 

"It's  come!"  called  Virginia,  running  gayly 
down  the  steps,  but  at  sight  of  her  father  she 
stopped.  "Well,  there  it  is,"  she  said,  putting  a 
paper  in  his  hand.  "It  shows  that  I  was  sorry, 
anyway." 

"What  is  this?"  inquired  the  Colonel,  fumbling 
feebly  for  his  glasses,  and  Virginia  snatched  the 
paper  away. 

"It's  a  letter  from  my  lawyers!"  she  said,  smiling 
wickedly.     "And  we'll  show  it  to  Mr.  Blount." 

She  took  it  over  and  put  it  in  Blount's  hands, 
and  as  he  read  the  first  line  he  turned  pale. 

"Why — Virginia!"  he  gasped  and  then  he  clutched 
at  his  heart  and  reached  out  quickly  for  the  fence. 
"Why — why,  I  thought  that  was  all  settled!  I 
certainly  understood  it  was — and  what  authority 
had  you  to  interfere?" 

"Wiley's  power  of  attorney,"  she  answered  de- 
fiantly, "I  fired  that  crooked  lawyer,  after  you'd 
got  him  all  fixed,  and  hired  a  good  one  with  my 
stock." 

"My  Lord!"  moaned  Blount,  "and  after  all  I'd 


A  CLEAN.UP  311 

done  for  you!':  And  then  he  collapsed  and  was 
borne  into  the  house.  But  Wiley,  who  had  been 
so  calm,  suddenly  leapt  for  the  letter  and  read  it 
through  to  the  end. 

"Holy — jumping — Judas!"  he  burst  out,  running 
over  to  the  Colonel  who  was  standing  with  lack 
luster  eyes.  "Look  here  what  Virginia  has  done! 
She's  bought  all  Blount's  stock,  under  that  option  I 
had,  and  cleaned  him — down  to  a  cent.  She's  won 
back  the  mine,  and  we  can  all  go  in  together " 

" Virginia !"  spoke  up  the  Colonel,  beckoning  her 
sternly  to  him.  "Come  down  here,  I  wish  to  speak 
to  you." 

She  came  down  slowly  and  as  her  father  began 
to  talk  the  tears  rose  quickly  to  her  eyes,  but  when 
Wiley  took  her  hand  she  smiled  back  wistfully  and 
crept  within  the  circle  of  his  arm. 


THE   END 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


'of  oa°.°p=^ 


AN     INITIAL     FINE     OF     25     CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  50  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.00  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


°°./> 


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